By Strangers And Heroes
by BenadrylCrumplesack
Summary: With Cortana's Guardians destroying Earth and it's colonies and the Infinity surging through slipspace to escape, The Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris are trapped on Sanghelios with no way to fight back. Or are they? Set after the events of Halo 5, this story follows Blue Team and Osiris as they embark on a desperate voyage to seek help from strangers who could be their only hope.
1. Prologue

_I've decided to rewrite and edit this story. For the most part, it's the same story. However, I've changed a few things, added some necessary lines of dialogue, more descriptions, etc. This story wasn't what I wanted it to be, so I felt a rewrite was necessary. The beginning in particular you may not notice anything different, but come later chapters it will be far diffrent than what it was, and I anticipate a better quality of a story and character/plot development. Thank you to all who are still following this story as I try to figure out what I'd like to do with it and how I'd like it to play out. I appreciate you all. Enjoy._


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

 **John 117**  
 **Sanghelios**

 _"I know we have a...disagreement, but once you understand my plan-"_  
 _"Your plan...is we do as you say."_  
 _"I'm offering people a chance to be more than they are naturally."_  
 _"Like Dr. Halsey did for me."_  
 _"No, that monster forced you. This is a gift-"_  
 _"Listen to yourself! Stand down, Cortana. Come home with us. It's not too late to stop this."_  
 _"Stop? No, John. This is too important to stop."_

Their conversation echoed in his mind as he stared at the night sky over Sanghelios. The way she'd chosen her plan over him. The way he'd used every ounce of strength he possessed to reach out towards her, and she'd turned her back on him. He'd crossed the galaxy to find her, to bring her back, but it meant nothing to her. He meant nothing to her. There wasn't a damned thing in the galaxy that was as important to her as her plan. Not even him.

"John?"

He turned, and saw Dr. Halsey, staring at him. He looked at her, waiting for her to continue. He was a man of few words, and Dr. Halsey knew this better than most.

"What happened? To Cortana, I mean?" She looked at him, fear behind her eyes. Fear for herself? For the galaxy? For him? For Cortana? He didn't know. He didn't care.

"She found a way to cure her rampancy, and wants to use Forerunner technology to force peace upon the galaxy, at whatever cost." He looked at her. "She'll use any means necessary, Dr. Halsey. No body count is too high for her."

Dr. Halsey closed her eyes and sighed. "Oh, Cortana." She said, her voice pained.

"I have no idea how to stop her. Not when she has all that Forerunner technology at her disposal."

Dr. Halsey opened her eyes and looked at him. "You're not alone in this, John. You have people with you who can help you find a way."

He slammed his fist into a rock formation in an uncharacteristic display of violent anger. "How can we find a way when we have nothing? We have no way to communicate, no way of slipspace travel, no colony we can turn to for help, nothing! There is nothing in this galaxy that can defeat Cortana and the Guardians!" He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. _Control yourself, John. She hurt you. She betrayed you. She rejected you. Taking your emotions out on Dr. Halsey won't change or remedy that._

He looked at Dr. Halsey. She was studying him, with what seemed like curiosity. "What's wrong, John?"

"Nothing." He looked away. "I need to talk to the others. To see if we can find some way to stop Cortana."

"Are you prepared to do what it takes, John?"

He turned back to Dr. Halsey. He knew what she meant.

"Yes."

He approached the tent where the others were. They turned to look at him, some with concern, some not. It was mostly Blue Team that looked at him with concern. It might've been concern on the Arbiter's face too, but with his face it was often hard to tell what emotion he was feeling. Right now, it was either concern or indigestion. Either reaction was appropriate at this point.

Locke stood up and took a couple steps toward him. "Any ideas on what our next move is?"

John shook his head. "I'm at a loss. I'd say it would be to contact Infinity, but I'm sure Cortana is monitering all communications."

"So that's out." Kelly said. "So is any kind of travel that a Pelican can't do. Staying here and waiting until Cortana finds us isn't an option I'm very fond of."

"At least Blue Team would make it out alive. Granted, you'd be in a stasis for a couple hundred thousand years, but your survival is pretty guaranteed." Vale said dryly.

"Fantastic." Fred mumbled.

"So we have no way to contact anyone outside Sanghelios, no way of traveling long distances to escape and no weapons capable of stopping Cortana." Palmer sighed. "Great."

"We might have a way to contact Infinity." Buck said slowly.

All eyes turned to him.

"There's probably billions of distress calls broadcasting on all channels, right? It's probably chaos. All we have to do is slip in a distress call of our own that only Captain Lasky would understand, and tell him where to find us." Buck said, looking around.

"That's...actually a pretty good idea." Palmer said, slowly, thinking it over.

"That could work." Kelly agreed.

Now all eyes turned to John. "What do you think, Chief?" Palmer asked.

"I think it could work. There's only one problem: Where would we go after that?" John asked.

Everyone looked at the ground, clearly wracking their brains. But where could they go? Cortana knew everything they knew. There wasn't a place in the galaxy they could hide from her to come up with a plan.

"That's the kicker, isn't it?" Buck said softly.

The crackling of the fire was the only sound for a few minutes, as everyone contemplated their own imminent demise at the hands of Cortana once she found them, and the futility of calling Infinity for help when there was nowhere to run from Cortana.

Dr. Halsey suddenly stepped forward, her eyes lighting up. "I know where we can go after the Infinity takes us. We'll need the Pelican to get there. But there is a place we can hide." She hesitated. "And there is someone who can help us with a plan."

"But will Cortana know of this place and this person?" John asked.

"No." Dr. Halsey assured him. "Cortana has no knowledge of this place or this person. I doubt anyone outside of myself, a few high in ONI's ranks and those residing in said place even know this place still exists." She studied John for a few seconds, then turned to the rest of the Blue Team. "It's a place you may recognize."

"What place?" Kelly asked, her voice tinged with suspicion.

Dr. Halsey hesitated again. "The Medical Facility Endurance."

John took a step back. Kelly and Frederic both rose to their feet in surprise.

Linda's head snapped up and she spoke for the first time. "I thought that medical facility was destroyed during the Fall of Reach."

"Partially. It was rebuilt. Refurbished. Reused." Dr. Halsey said.

"Reused for what?" John demanded, staring at Dr. Halsey. He knew he wasn't going to like this answer.

"For research." Dr. Halsey said dismissively, looking away.

"What kind of research, Dr. Halsey?" John said, his voice harsher. He really wasn't going to like this answer.

Dr. Halsey continued to stare off into the distance. Finally, she answered. "A research program similar to the Spartan program. Much smaller scale. Much different focus."

"But still using children as experimental subjects?" John asked coldly.

Dr. Halsey looked at him. "I know the subjects were young. Perhaps not as young as you were. But I also know that the program obtained full consent of the parents of the children, and that the experimentation currently being conducted at the facility is nowhere near as hazardous to the children as the SPARTAN-II program was."

Locke spoke up. "The ethics of human experiementation aside, how can we know that this facility is still even operational and available for us to go to?"

Dr. Halsey looked at Locke. "I must admit to having less faith in Fireteam Osiris than I'd let on. When I had my doubts about your ability to bring John back to me, I contacted my associate at Endurance to see if she had anyone in her possession who could succeed in bringing John back if Osiris failed. During the last correspondance I had with her, she invited me to the facility and said she did have someone. Several someones. But she also said that...there was a catch. An issue. I never received information on what that issue was."

"At least we have a place. And, hopefully, a ride." Buck said. "This whole plan's about as good as we're going to get, for the moment."

"Let's just hope we can contact the Infinity before Cortana finds us." John said. "If we don't manage to contact Infinity, we have nothing." He looked at all the faces before him. Weary, battle worn faces. If this group couldn't survive Cortana's plan, the rest of the galaxy didn't stand a chance.

"So now the question stands: What are we going to say to Lasky to communicate with him where to find us?" Palmer asked.

"Leave that to me." John said. "Lasky and I have a history. I'll figure something out."

 **T. Lasky**  
 **Infinity**

Captain Lasky sighed and rubbed his forehead. The Infinity had been executing random slipspace jumps for close to seven hours now. "Roland?" He called out.

The AI appeared on the console next to him. "Yes, Captain?"

"Any sign of Cortana?" Lasky asked.

"No, sir. No sign of her for the last six hours. I think it's safe to say that she isn't pursuing us, for the moment."

Lasky sighed again. "Good." He cast a side glance towards the AI. "You're not having second thoughts about pledging your loyalty to her, are you?"

The AI smiled ruefully. "No, Captain. I have a certain suspicion for any regime that enforces peace by violent methods."

"That makes two of us." Lasky also smiled ruefully. "Heard anything new distress calls on the channels?"

Roland hesitated. "Well..."

Lasky looked at him. "Well, what?"

Roland hesitated again. "There was something I heard. It didn't particularly make sense to me, so I would most likely have disregarded it, if it hadn't tickled my poetic fancy."

"Your what?"

"Never mind. As I was saying, it doesn't seem like it's an attempt to communicate with anyone, simply a sort of lyrical broadcast into space. It comes out as nothing other than mindless poetry. But it isn't."

Lasky strode towards the AI. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it appears to be a message with some sort of significance. It repeats itself in the same order, and has some sort of emphasis on a word that could mean it's a communication, but it isn't any kind of distress call that is recognizable. I'm not sure where it's coming from, and I have no idea who is sending it."

Lasky shook his head. "The more you try and explain, the more confused I get. Just play it for me."

"That would probably be for the best."

The distress call began to play out of the ship's console:

 _"Soldiers aren't machines. We're just people. From here to infinity, they are bitter."_ The message continued to relay itself.

Lasky raised his eyebrows. "Well, that makes no sense."

"That's what I was attempting to communicate." Roland said.

"What do you think it means?" Lasky asked.

Roland looked at him like he was insane. "You expect me to know?"

Lasky sighed. "Give me a second to think about it. It's hitting something in the back of my mind, but I can't figure out what."

There was a few minutes of silence while Lasky listened to the message, brow furrowed, whispering to himself. Suddenly, he smacked the console Roland was standing on.

Roland flickered, the AI version of jumping. "Sir!" He cried.

"I've got it!" Lasky looked at Roland, his eyes bright with excitement.

"Got what?" Roland asked.

"I know what the message means, who it's from and what they want us to do!"

"Care to share your information?"

Lasky grinned at him. "It's the Chief."

Roland looked at him in disbelief. "The Master Chief? Are you sure? How do you know?"

Lasky couldn't grinning. "Because of the first part, _'Soldiers aren't machines. We're just people.'_ It's something I said to him after he defeated the Didact and lost Cortana. The second part, _'from here to infinity'_ , is pretty self explanatory. They're calling us."

"But what does _'they are bitter'_ mean?" Roland asked.

Lasky laughed. "Say it faster. Slur all the words together."

"Theyarebitter." Roland mumbled.

"Faster."

"Theyarbitter."

"Close."

"Thearbit- The Arbiter!" Roland shouted.

"Exactly!" Lasky shouted back.

"They're on Sanghelios!" Roland shouted again.

"Damn right they are!" Lasky shouted back to Roland again. "Can you get us there without Cortana finding us?"

"Absolutely." Roland said. "We'll get there. We'll find the Chief."

"And then we'll do whatever it takes to help him stop Cortana." Lasky said softly.

 **John 117**  
 **Sanghelios**

"On the top ten list of 'Strangest Messages I've Ever Heard', that one is definitely in first place. And let me tell you, my mother has sent me some pretty weird things before." Buck remarked, shaking his head.

"How do we know that message won't get lost in all the noise out there?" Locke asked. "How do we know Lasky will even know it's for him? How do we know that Cortana won't find it and figure it out before Lasky does?"

"We don't." John said. He tried to quell the emotions that surged through his body when Locke spat out her name.

"Fantastic." Locke grumbled.

"It's better than sitting around doing nothing." Palmer sighed.

For a few minutes, silence reigned. John went back to his thoughts. _I never thought she would be capable of something like this. What did the Foreruner technology do to her? What if whatever it did to her is permanent? What if I never get her, the real her, back?_

He pushed those thoughts aside and tuned in to the group conversation once more. They were making small talk. Small talk held no interest for him, but anything was better than what was going on inside his head. He'd listen to Spartan Buck tell terrible jokes for hours if it meant not having to face his own thoughts.

He cast a sideways glance towards Dr. Halsey. She was sitting on a rock, staring at the ground, lost in her own mind. He wondered what she was thinking about. She hadn't said anything in a few hours.

"Dr. Halsey." John spoke up.

She looked at him. "Yes, John?"

"I need to speak with you."

"Of course, John."

The two of them left the tent together, and walked some distance away from the others, until John knew there was no chance of anyone hearing them. He contemplated how, exactly, he wanted to frame his question to Dr. Halsey. He wanted answers, but he knew how well she deflected when she thought him angry.

Dr. Halsey stared up at the night sky and said nothing. He knew she was waiting for him to speak first. He wouldn't keep her waiting.

"Dr. Halsey, you said you had contacted someone at Endurance, and you had discussed details of sending someone after me if Fireteam Osiris failed."

"Yes, that is correct."

 _And now comes the time for me to watch my tone._ He thought. "What about the program at Endurance made you think there would be anyone there who could do what a Spartan team would fail to?"

Dr. Halsey was quiet for a long time. "If you are looking for specifics, I don't have any. I only know the general information of what goes on there."

"General information is fine."

Dr. Halsey sighed. "Very well. I will tell you about Project Krypteia. Project Krypteia is an ONI program that focuses on the enhancement of the human mind for the purpose of allowing remote connectivity to any kind of electronic. You've heard of the ancient technology of Bluetooth, I assume. We have that to thank for our BlueNet technology today. Project Krypteia's goal is to take the best of Project Freelancer and the SPARTAN-II Program and combine them into a program that makes the human brain function as an AI itself, through an implantation of a chip that allows the individual in possession of the chip to convert their brainwaves to radio waves to gain control of electronic equipment."

John was simultaneously intrigued and horrified. "Why?"

Dr. Hasley smiled. "Because of you."

He was speechless. She seemed to sense this, and continued.

"Your work with Cortana and the research gained from Project Freelancer sparked an interest with ONI. They wanted to know if it was possible to eliminate the need for an AI and a suit of armor and have an actual human being with the same capabilities. The negative reactions to Project Freelancer made many of those in power very wary of using AI's in experimentation for combat. By thus eliminating an AI from the equation, it means the capabilities are contained within a single entity, instead of two. It allows for greater control of the individual as well. It's almost as though ONI anticipated what would happen with Cortana."

John struggled to take it all in. "Was Project Krypteia a success?"

Dr. Halsey hesitated. "I know there was success to some degree. Had it been a full success, we would've heard something. The project has been under way for almost ten years. "

"Ten years?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yes. Which is why I was wary when my former colleague told me there was a catch. When it comes to altering the human brain, any kind of a catch is never a good thing."

He thought for a minute. "What do you think we'll find if we get to Endurance?"

"I don't know, John. And that's what frightens me."


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER FOUR**

 **T. Lasky**  
 **Infinity**

"Captain Lasky. We'll be exiting slipspace in a few minutes. I sent a response on the same channel we received the Chief's message on, but I haven't gotten an answer yet." Roland said.

Lasky sighed. "That's fine, Roland. Let's just hope they get it before we get to Sanghelios."

"Let's hope, Captain."

Lasky rubbed his forehead. He was tired. Tired, yet relieved. His crew was fine. The Chief and those with him were safe from Cortana, for the moment. All that was left was to get them on board the Infinity and head to wherever Chief thought was best for them to go. He hoped the Chief had a plan.

"Exiting slipspace Captain. We're here."

Lasky sat straight up. "Try the channel one more time."

"Of course, Captain." Roland responded.

 _"Infinity, is that you?"_ Palmer's voice came out of the console.

"Sarah! Yes, it is!" Lasky almost shouted.

 _"Tom! I'm so glad to hear your voice. You have no idea. Are you and your crew safe and sound?"_

"Yes, we are. We're not sure for how long though. How long until you all are on board?"

 _"About thirty seconds. As soon as we dock, head for Reach."_

Lasky blinked. "Reach?"

 _"Yes, Reach. Don't question it, just go. We'll explain later."_

"Will do.

 _"Thanks. Palmer out._

Lasky strode to the door of the bridge. "You heard her, Roland. Take us to reach. I'm heading down to meet them."

Lasky stood in the dock and watched as the group exited the Pelican. All the people he had hoped to see were there: Blue Team, Fireteam Osiris, Dr. Halsey, Palmer and even The Arbiter.

"Arbiter. I didn't expect to see you here. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you've come along, but I didn't expect it." Lasky approached The Arbiter.

"I serve my homeworld most effectively by assisting those who have the best chance of saving the galaxy." The Arbiter said, by way of explanation. It was most likely the only explanation that he was going to offer.

Lasky nodded. "Seems logical." He wouldn't question the Arbiter further, especially since he had a suspicion that the Arbiter wasn't particularly fond of sitting around on a planet when he could be out doing something useful. He wasn't the kind of individual to stay behind when he could potentially help. Lasky then turned to the one person he'd been most hoping to address. "Chief. Good to see you too."

"Likewise, Sir."

"Please don't call me sir, Chief."

"My apologies, Captain."

Lasky shook his head. "That'll have to do, I guess."

"Are we enroute to Reach, Tom?" Palmer asked.

"Yes. Roland's getting us there now."

"Are you sure about him?" Locke asked suspiciously, stepping forward. "He's an AI. One of the very few that decided not to join Cortana. What's to stop him from deciding he wants in on her plan?"

"Well, delusions of grandeur aren't really Roland's thing. He assures me he's wary of Cortana's plan and her methods and I believe him. He's yet to show any inclination other than being as scared shitless of her as the rest of us are." Lasky assured Locke.

"Pardon me if I don't share your reassurance." Locke said.

"Wouldn't expect you to." Lasky turned back to the Chief. "Why, exactly, are we going to Reach?"

Dr. Halsey stepped forward. "It was my idea. My associate that I contacted may have someone who is able to help us. She is located at the Medical Facility Endurance. Once we arrive at Reach, we will take the Pelican to Endurance and meet my associate there. After that, your ship may resume your routine of random slipspace jumps. That has seeemed to work well so far in avoiding Cortana."

"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to accompany you to Endurance. Whether I'm on the Infinity or not makes no difference, even if Cortana eventually catches up to it." Lasky told her.

Dr. Halsey looked at him. "I have no issue with you accompanying us."

"I was going to suggest that. Took the words out of my mouth, Tom." Palmer said, with a half smile.

"You have any issue with me tagging along?" Lasky asked Chief.

"Not at all." Chief said.

"Then that's settled." Lasky nodded.

 _"Captain?"_

"Yes, Roland?" Lasky called out.

 _"We're nearing the Pelican drop point at Reach. Will you be coming back to the bridge?"_

"No, Roland. I'm leaving with them. Once we're gone, start up the random slipspace jumps. Keep the Infinity and her crew away from Cortana. Can you handle that?" Lasky asked.

Roland chuckled. _"Of course, Captain. I'm very much eager to keep the Infinity and everyone on board well away from her. Especially myself."_

Lasky smiled. "Good. Thanks, Roland. And good luck."

"Guess we should all get back in the Pelican, then." Chief said. "Let's go."

Blue Team, Fireteam Osiris, Palmer, Dr. Halsey, The Arbiter and Captain Lasky all boarded the Pelican.

Lasky wondered to himself why everyone kept looking at each other as if they knew something he didn't. And why did everyone look so much more tense than they normally would? A threat of galactic proportions wasn't anything particularly new to this group, but something had them on edge. And the fact that something put this group of the galaxy's most fearless heroes on edge was something that put him on edge himself.

As everyone boarded the Pelican, Lasky followed Palmer to the pilot's seat, where she sat ready to fly the Pelican off of the Infinity to Reach. "Sarah. Care to tell me what's going on?" He asked his friend softly.

Palmer glanced at him, then back out the front window of the Pelican. "You know what's going on. Cortana, heading to Reach, the universe in danger, etc."

Lasky gave her a look. "Yes. I know about that part. But what I don't know is the reason everyone looks like they'd rather surrender to Cortana than do whatever it is we're about to do."

Palmer threw a glance towards the rest of the group, then looked him in the eyes. "Tom, the reason we're going to Reach is to find someone on the Endurance. Someone who can help us."

Lasky frowned. "But wasn't Endurance shut down after the Spartan II program?"

Palmer shook her head. "Apparently not, according to Dr. Halsey. For the last ten years they've been a fully functioning experimental facility. The facility and it's current program is headed by a colleague of Dr. Halsey's that worked with her on the Spartan II program."

Lasky looked at her suspiciously. "Go on."

Palmer sighed. "You're not going to like it."

"Regardless of whether or not I like it, it's better than not knowing."

Palmer looked away and then looked back at him. "They've been conducting human experimentation. I'm not sure what kind, and no one knows what really went on there. Still is going on there, I guess. Dr. Halsey wasn't very specific with us, but it sounds like they're making humans into fully functioning AI's. And apparently no one knows if the project was a success or not. But it's the only option we have right now."

"It's not right." Lasky shook his head.

Palmer looked at him. "As disgusting as it sounds, we have to hope the experiment was a success, because if it wasn't? We may as well give up."

The door to the Infinity's hangar started to open. "Now, Roland?" Palmer said into the comm unit, turning away from Lasky.

 _"Now."_

Palmer punched the throttle on the Pelican, taking it out of the hangar. "I know you don't like it, Tom. Neither do I."

"But we don't have much of a choice, do we?" Lasky asked quietly.

Palmer just shook her head.

 **John 117**  
 **Pelican**

John held on as the Pelican surged out of the Infinity's hangar. They were on their own from this point on. Whatever they found at Endurance would be the only help they would have, and they couldn't even depend on that. It wasn't a very reassuring prospect.

An even less reassuring prospect was that he couldn't think of a single way to stop Cortana without destroying her. He'd already tried to reason with her. And he'd failed. If anyone could've convinced her to stop her plan, it would've been him. But he hadn't been able to convince her. She hadn't even cared what he'd had to say.

He knew she still cared for him, though. She'd knows he would try to stop her, and she could've killed him. But she didn't. Yes, she'd tried to incapacitate him, but at least she hadn't tried to kill him.

Still, she'd put him back in a place that he'd never wanted to be, ever again. A place where he had to choose between saving the universe and keeping someone he cared about. He didn't think he could ever forgive her for putting him back in that place again.

He was jolted out of his own thoughts by Palmer's call that they'd arrived. They'd landed at Endurance. It was time to find out who they had on their side.

The group exited the Pelican and surveyed their surroundings carefully. The Endurance showed not a single sign of life. The facility was dark, quiet. Nothing moved. Nothing breathed, save the group that had just exited the Pelican. _This isn't good._ John thought to himself.

"I thought you said this facility was operational?" Locke demanded, whirling on Dr. Halsey.

Dr. Halsey simply looked at him. "I know nothing more than you do."

John stepped forward. "Let's just go inside and see what we find." He started towards one of the doors, when movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned quickly, seeing what looked like the sillhouette of a person drifting by one of the dark windows of the facility.

Locke turned to see what he was looking at, but the figure was gone. "You see something, Spartan?" He asked, looking at John.

"Yes. Not sure what, though. Let's just keep moving."

The group moved forward towards the entrance. The door was sealed shut. Kelly attempted to activate the door, but it didn't seem to be working.

"Now what?" Locke asked, looking at John.

"I'm not sure." He answered truthfully.

The group stood and waited, everyone trying to think of a way to enter the facility to investigate it. The Arbiter was apparently tired of mulling about and decided to take more aggressive measures to gain access to the facility. He approached the door and slammed his fist into it three times, denting the door slightly.

"I guess that's one way to knock." Buck said wryly.

The air locks on the door suddenly hissed, and the group jumped at the sudden noise. They stared, tense, as the door started to slide back.

The sliding door revealed a slight young woman, no older than eighteen, with long red hair that cascaded over her shoulders and down to her ribcage. Her large, expressive green eyes showed equal parts of confusion and suspicion. "Can I...can I help you?" She asked, her luscious mouth turning downwards into a frown.

John blinked. He'd been expecting anything, really, than the beautiful young woman. He was much more used to being greeted by bullets, or explosions, or religious extremists. Beautiful unarmed women were almost more unnerving.

The rest of the group was apparently shocked into silence as well. John figured that the lack of bullets was just as unnerving to them too.

The Arbiter seemed to recover first, as he stepped forward, which caused the young woman to step back. John felt some slight sympathy. She was probably seeing an alien for the first time. And as far as aliens went, The Arbiter was one of the most terrifying aliens to look at. Especially in his armor. But then, the rest of the group wasn't any less terrifying to look at, considering there were eight Spartans in full armor among the group as well.

"We have come to speak with an associate of Dr. Halsey's. We require assistance, and were informed of her presence here." The Arbiter told her, attempting to assume a less imposing posture and failing miserably.

The young woman eyed him, visibly uncomfortable.

Then Dr. Halsey stepped forward. "I am Dr. Halsey, child. We need to speak to Dr. Dyer. Is she here?"

"Yes, of course!" The young woman shook her head, as if trying to shake herself out of a daydream. "Dr. Halsey. Yes. Dr. Dyer has mentioned you." She shook her head again. "I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you. I was..." She threw a look over to The Arbiter. "...distracted."

John fought off amusement. Distracted, indeed. Few things were more distracting than a group of strangers showing up unannounced, in full combat armor, led by a massive mandibled alien warrior pounding on your door.

The young woman surveyed the group once more. "Um, yes. If you'll all follow me, please?" She turned to walk down the long, dark corridor, her posture stiff.

John turned to look at Kelly. She was already looking at him. "Let's go." He said. He wasn't sure what they'd find, but he didn't think they could be in too much danger if an young and unarmed girl showed up to answer the door.

John followed the young girl, and decided to ask the question that had been in his mind from the moment she opened the door to the facility. "Who are you?"

The girl turned slightly. "I'm called Eridanus. Who are you?"

John frowned, thankful she couldn't see his facial expression under his helmet. "You're called Eridanus? That's not your name?"

She turned back a bit farther to give him an amused look. "That's what I've been called for the last ten years. It's not my real name, but it might as well be. I'm sure you have something similar that people call you, that isn't your real name, but you always respond to it and you think of yourself as that. I believe it's called a 'nickname' in casual conversation."

John smiled, amused. "I'm called Master Chief."

Eridanus gave a half smirk. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Master Chief."

"Likewise, Eridanus."

Eridanus cast a glance towards the rest of the group. "Who are all of you, if I may ask?"

"We'll make official introductions once you take us to who we need." Locke snapped, clearly not in the mood for pleasantries.

"Fair enough." Eridanus replied, unruffled. She seemed to have collected herself. Once she had herself collected, she seemed to be unshakeable.

The group turned down another dark corrider, and John saw a dim, greenish light up ahead, and could hear some voices, but couldn't make out what was being said. He held up his hand, and the group immediately stopped.

Eridanus turned around to see the group stopped cold. "Is something wrong?" She asked, looking at him, frowning.

"Who is that up ahead?" He demanded.

She broke out into a smile, revealing perfectly straight white teeth. "Oh, that's my brother and my sister, trying to repair that section of the facility. We're in the process of fixing it, but it keeps getting destroyed." She shook her head and looked off into the distance.

John was instantly supsicious. "How does the facility keep getting destroyed?" He asked, warily.

Eridanus's eyes trailed off into a distant stare. A stare that meant she would not be giving him a straight answer to his question. "Oh, things happen. I'm sure you understand." She then smiled warmly again, making eye contact with him, through his helmet. He found the gesture almost unnerving. "Let me introduce you to my siblings, if you'd like. They're wonderful people."

"I'd like that." Lasky stepped forward and smiled. "Thank you for the kind offer."

John smirked under his helmet. He'd wondered when Lasky would tire of the tension.

Lasky and Eridanus took up the head of the group and they all approached the dimly lit area of the corridor.

When they rounded the corner, the two individuals immediately turned on them.

"Whoa!" Was the exclamation from a tall, dark haired man who looked to be about twenty three. He was good looking, with blue eyes and low brow bone that gave him the appearance of brooding. He was obviously physically fit, but not in the bulky way that the Spartans were. It was more of a lithe fitness that a body meant for speed would have. He stood up and took a step back, his posture becoming rigid, as if anticipating a threat. Then, he saw Eridanus leading the group, frowned slightly at her, but visibly relaxed. "Hey, Eri. Uh..." He waved a hand at John and his companions. "What's with the crowd?"

The woman with him was about the same age, with black hair that was shaved on the sides and the back. Her hair was wavy, and made fully, wavy line from the top right side of her head, back over and down to the back left side of her head. Her eyes were the same color as the man's, but seemed to be sharper, somehow. She was only slightly shorter than the him, but seemed to be more muscular. She seemed less startled by their presence, but far more hostile. She was equally attractive to Eridanus, but the hostility and hardness radiating from her took away from that considerably. "Eridanus." She spoke sharply. "Who in the hell are all these people, and kindly explain to me why you decided it was a good idea to let them in?"

Eridanus shrank back a bit. John noticed that. Clearly, she was afraid of provoking the wrath of the other woman. "Kuiper, it's Dr. Halsey. Dr. Halsey and her...people."

The woman, who was apparently called Kuiper, eyed Eridanus and then the group. "Dr. Halsey, hm?" She apparently picked Halsey out of the crowd, and slowly swaggered towards her. John tensed. Her posture was threatening, and much as he disliked Halsey, he'd be damned if anyone in the group got mauled by a someone with a haircut like that. He stepped forward.

The woman stopped and looked at him, with a smirk. She held her hand out. "Whoa there, sweetheart. I'm not going to hurt her. I'd just like to get a good look at the inspiration for our own good doctor's decision to turn us into living horrors, that's all."

John stepped back and inclined his head. He didn't trust her, that was for sure, but he sure as hell was amused at her statement.

"Kuiper, anytime you'd like to stop being an ass, we'd all appreciate it." The young man went back to carefully putting two wires together on a piece of equipment, rolling his eyes as he did.

Kuiper threw a look back to him. "Shut up, Tiberius. I don't remember asking for your opinion."

The young man, apparently called Tiberius, just shook his head.

Eridanus rolled her eyes as well and stepped up to Kuiper. "If you're done, I'd like to get them to Dr. Dyer. It feels urgent."

Kuiper looked over the group. "Why did you come here? For shits and giggles? Entertainment? What's your reason."

Locke was apparently done with her attitude, and stepped right up to her and leaned down slightly into her face. "We're here because an AI decided to take Forerunner technology, become immortal, and convince an entire galaxy of AI's to help her implement a plan to enforce peace in the galaxy at the cost of killing anyone who disagrees, and we're the group of people that most strongly disagress, which means that we could end up killed. And we're not about to end up killed. That's why we're here. We need some help, _if that's okay with you_."

Kuiper's smirk became a full fledged grin, and she looked at the rest of the group, gesturing at Locke. "He's got some spunk, doesn't he? Why didn't anyone just say so?" She looked at Eridanus. "Lead them on, ginger." Then she turned back to Locke, and inched closer so that their faces were almost touching. "Get the fuck out of my face, spitfire." She said softly.

Locke's face twitched. John wasn't sure if it was amusement or anger. He had his answer when Locke held up his hands and stepped back.

"Can we get going?" Kelly asked. "Wasting time is a luxury we can't afford."

Eridanus motioned for the group to follow her, and they started down the corridor again.

"Eridanus!" It was the young man, Tiberius, that called out to her.

Eridanus turned around to look back at him. John did too. Tiberius looked at Eridanus with a steady gaze. "Are they here for her?" He asked.

Eridanus bit her lip and looked down at the ground for a long moment. "I don't know, Ti. I really don't know."

Tiberius looked at her, and John detected a faint amount of pain in his eyes. He didn't know who they were talking about and he didn't like not knowing.

Kuiper threw back her head and laughed. "I thought they were trying to save everyone from crazy, not victimize them with it!"

Eridanus looked up with a pained expression contorting her beautiful face. "Kuiper...please don't." She said, softly, as Kuiper kept laughing.

John couldn't stop himself from gently touching her arm. She turned her green eyes back to him. He wished for a minute he could see his sympathetic expression.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Palmer demanded, looking from Eridanus to Kuiper.

Kuiper stopped laughing and shook her head in disgust. "I'm saying you better hope to whatever god you believe in that your last hope in the universe isn't who I think it is."

Tiberius slammed his fist on the console he was working on. "Goddamn it, Kuiper."

"No, fuck you!" Kuiper turned on him. "You know I'm right. You fucking know I'm right. If they wan't someone to help them save the fucking galaxy, she's the last person they want to depend on! The last person, Tiberius!"

"Kuiper." Eridanus's voice was cold, sharp. "Please refrain from making our guests uncomfortable."

Kuiper turned away from Tiberius's face, where she had just moments before been screaming, and looked at Eridanus, her face becoming hardened and cold. She put her hands up in a gesture of apology. "My bad, ginger. Go on." She waved her hand.

"Thank you." Eridanus said, her voice as cold as Kuiper's expression. "Please, follow me."

"Eridanus." John said, sharply. "What was she talking about?"

Eridanus looked up at him, and bit her lip again. "I can't say."

"Why not?" Kelly demanded.

"I just can't. I'm not in charge here, Dr. Dyer is. You find out whatever it is she wants you to knowS." Eridanus looked stressed and pained.

John touched her shoulder. "That's fine. Take us to Dr. Dyer."

He heard Dr. Halsey mutter from behind him. "I knew the program couldn't have been that much of a success."

For the first time, John felt a knot of nervousness forming in the pit of his stomach from a situatio that wasn't combat related. Their last hope didn't seem very promising.

John and his cohorts followed Eridanus into a large room lined with computers, medical equipment, data logs, and other standard scientific research equipment. A woman, who appeared to be about forty five, with a sheet of shoulder length brown hair, was bent over a computer monitor.

"Dr. Dyer." Dr. Halsey called out as they approached her.

The woman looked up, surprise crossing her face. "Dr. Halsey. Out of all the faces I expected to see here, yours was the last."

Dr. Halsey frowned. "Why do you say that?"

Chuckling softly, Dr. Dyer crossed her arms. "You've got an AI of yours running amok, using Forerunner technology to stake ownership over the galaxy itself. I thought you'd be in hiding, considering said AI most likely has some less than fond feelings for you."

"That's fair." Dr. Halsey said thoughtfully. "So you're aware of the issue at hand?"

"I am. I am taking the necessary precautions should your AI come knocking on our door, taking the necessary precautions to assume my subjects and I are safe and able to combate the threat."

" _Subjects_?" Palmer practically snarled, taking a slight step forward.

John saw Lasky put a hand on her arm.

Dr. Dyer looked steadily at her. "Feel however you want about my words. We don't stand on pretense here. They know they are test subjects, and I know they are test subjects. Why sugar coat it?"

John put his hand on Palmer's forearm, knowing how irritated she was. Human experimentation was a soft spot for her, as it was for him. She inclined her head towards him slightly, letting him know that she was fine. In case she wasn't fine, both he and Lasky were in prime position to restrain her, if necessary.

"You have clearly met Eridanus, but am I correct in assuming you have also met my two subjects in the corridor?" Dr. Dyer asked.

"Yes." Locke spoke up. "It was all around a pleasant experience." He said sarcastically.

"This facility tests their abilities, it doesn't teach them social graces." Dr. Dyer responded.

Locke considered this for a moment. "Fair enough."

"What, exactly, are the details of your experiment? You seem confident that your...subjects...can keep this facility protected. Why is that? What about your project gives you that confidence?" Dr. Halsey inquired. "And furthermore, can one of your-" She hesitated on the word. She didn't seem to be thrilled about using it, especially in front of Palmer, who she kept glancing at. "-subjects...be of help to us in eliminating Cortana as a threat?"

Dr. Dyer held up her hand. "Let me start with answering your first question. The details of my experiments are simple: take a computer chip and implant it into the brain stem of a subject with a high enough brain capacity to be able to use said chip to convert brain waves to radio waves to use the human brain to be able to assume the full functionality of an AI. Since the human brain is what is used, there is no risk of rampancy. The human brain is designed to think, and it is nearly impossible for the human brain to think itself into insanity. That is what my project has been about."

Dr. Halsey was incredulous. "Is that even possible?"

"It's more than possible, Dr. Halsey. It has been done. I have done it. I have a subject who is Cortana's equal." Dr. Dyer spread her hands wide. "I have done what was considered impossible. I have created the future. Once my methods are made public, the need for Artificial Intelligence will be over. There will be no risk of what happened with your AI ever again."

John's spine prickled with annoyance. He took a breath and tried to remain collected, telling himself that Dr. Dyer didn't know Cortana the way he did. He also didn't appreciate Dr. Dyer's arrogance and assumption that whatever she had done was a gift to humanity, when she had most likely actively done harm to those she had carelessly experimented on.

"Incredible." Dr. Halsey murmured.

"You said you only have one subject with the capacity to perform AI functions the way Cortana does." Lasky stepped forward. "Why only one subject?"

Dr. Dyer turned a cold gaze onto Lasky. "Because there was one variable we didn't foresee. The human brain has a very strong survial instinct. In order to gain the ability to use the conversion chip the way it was designed to be used, a subject has to ignore the brain's innate survival instinct. So far only one of my subjects has achieved that."

John turned slightly, noticing Eridanus's slightly embarassed face. Her embarassment indicated she wasn't the subject. "A strong instinct for survival is nothing to be ashamed of." He said quietly. She turned and looked at him, her large green eyes holding an emotion he couldn't quite identify. "I know." She said softly. "But it doesn't make me feel like any less of a failure."

John gently put his hand on her shoulder. "You were made to be human, not an AI. You're not a failure. You're something incredible."

She continuded to look at him, and bit her lip.

"You've seen what success looks like. If that's the price to pay for success, I'll take being a failure." A deep voice spoke from behind John. He turned, and saw a large, muscled, bearded man. The man was almost as tall as he was, and easily as solidly built.

"They just keep multiplying." Buck muttered under his breath. Tanaka elbowed him.

"Fortunately for you, it's just us failures that keep multiplying." The large man winked at Buck. Buck looked rather impressed at the witty retort.

"It's a manlier version of Buck." Vale murmured to Tanaka, who coughed in an attempt to cover up a laugh. Buck shot both of them a dirty look.

"I like to think I'm a manlier version than most people." The bearded man quipped. "Maximillian. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." He nodded at the group. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go make sure Kuiper and Tiberius aren't killing each other." He strode past the group and towards the door, giving Thel Vadam a friendly slap on the shoulder, as if they'd been close for years, before walking out. Thel Vadam looked mystified and looked at Frederic, who was next to him, for help.

"It's a human thing. A sign of good will." Frederic told him.

Thel Vadam seemed to accept this, but still looked confused. John himself was highly amused that the large bearded man had slapped an Elite on the shoulder without any hesitation or show of caution.

Kelly stepped forward towards Dr. Dyer. "What did he mean by 'the price of success?' Why do all of your people-"

"Subjects." Dr. Dyer interrupted her, looking down at a console.

"- _people_ -" Kelly gritted her teeth as she spoke. "-keep talking about your one successful _person_ as if she's as insane as Cortana?"

Dr. Dyer looked up and sighed. "A reduced survival instinct generally manifests itself as risk taking behavior. An individual who is willing to engage in risk taking behavior, dangerous behavior, repeatedly, without a thought towards prior consequences, is the ideal to access the full potential of the computer implant. My successful subject possessed such a disposition for risk taking behavior. The subject was intelligent. Extremely intelligent. The subject appeared to have incredible control over their emotions-virtually no frustration when learning how to use the chip. Completely unconcerned when one of the other subjects was unable to maintain control over their automated bodily functions and fell to the floor not breathing." Dr. Dyer laughed bitterly. "If only I'd seen it."

"Seen what?" Dr. Halsey demanded.

Dr. Dyer pressed a hand against her mouth and stared at the floor. "If only I'd seen the signs sooner." She said quietly.

She then looked up at the group. "High intelligence. Risk taking behavior. Doesn't learn from previous mistakes. Shallow emotions. Lack of concern for others. Those traits are associated with a particular type of personality we didn't think to test for."

"What type of personality?"

Dr. Dyer stared at Dr. Halsey. "A type of personality who should never be gifted with this ability. A type of personality that would never use this technology for the good of humanity, only for themselves. A type of personality that would use this technology to cripple planets on a whim." Dr. Halsey looked down at the ground again. "And we didn't think to test for it."

"Test for _what_?" Locke almost shouted, clearly frustrated with Dr. Dyer's long winded confession.

"Antisocial Personality Disorder." Dr. Dyer said, in a voice full of regret.

Dr. Halsey's eyes widened in shock and she stepped back. "You didn't have your subjects undergo any psychological testing?"

"No. We didn't anticipate a success. We didn't even anticipate any of them to survive. So we got carried away with our experimentation...and didn't think about the impacts of what we were doing...we got so caught up in the research."

Everyone else simply stood there, looking confused.

"Anti personal what?" Buck whispered to Vale. "What the hell is that?"

Vale just gave him a shrug and a look that included a furrowed brow of confusion.

"I cannot believe you would do that." Dr. Halsey spoke harshly. "I cannot believe you would get so caught up in the research that you would ignore the mental health and stability of your test subjects. You should never let yourself become so caught up in the scientific aspects of your research that you neglect to think of your subjects."

"How ironic, coming from you." Kelly said, with a bit of an attitude, staring down Dr. Halsey.

Dr. Halsey looked indignant and then furious and opened her mouth to say something, and John knew that whatever followed couldn't be any good, so he stepped between the two of them and addressed Dr. Dyer. "None of that matters."

"It matters." Dr. Halsey said, still glaring at Kelly, but backing down. John knew that Kelly's offhand remark had cut her deeply, and he wished Kelly hadn't said anything. He knew that Dr. Halsey harbored a deep guilt for what she had done with the Spartan program, a guilt she would carry with her to her grave.

"I'm sorry- I'm not a scientist of any kind, so I'm not sure what, exactly, this disorder is that you're referring to."

It was Lasky who spoke. He stood with his arms folded, a slight squint to his eyes, an expression that was less one of confusion and more one of suspicion."

Dr. Dyer hesitated. "It is a personality disorder that is exactly as I described. It also entails a...well, a lack of empathy. A lack of guilt. A lack of adherence to social rules and orders. Manipulation, lying. That sort of thing."

Dr. Halsey gave a hollow laugh. "What she means is that Antisocial Personality Disorder is a clinical term for sociopathy. Because that is what her successful subject is: a sociopath."

"I suddenly understand why the scary woman with the terrible haircut asked if we wanted to save everyone from crazy or victimize them with it." Buck mumbled.

"I am now much more wary of this plan than I was. And I have been wary from the beginning." The Arbiter said to Buck.

"That makes three of us who aren't thrilled with this plan now." Lasky muttered.

Dr. Dyer gave the ceiling a frustrated look. "She is capable of doing what you need her to. She just...may need a bit of persuading." She looked back at the group. "Some sort of offer that will entice her to do what you need her to."

"An offer?" Locke planted his feet and folded his arms, eyeing Dr. Dyer. "We're supposed to make her an offer she can't refuse to help us? Do you think offering her a chance to literally save the galaxy is a good enough of an offer?"

Dr. Dyer shook her head. "I doubt it. You haven't met her. I have known her for years. She will need something more...beneficial. Something she wants in return for her help." Dr. Dyer waved a hand. "I'm sure you'll think of something." She approached a small console and typed in a code. A drawer in the console opened, and she pulled a small lockbox out of the drawer. She retrieved a set of metal objects on a ring from the lockbox. From there, she quickly typed another passcode into the console before turning back to the group.

"Are those...keys?" Palmer asked, incredulously.

"Yes. She has full AI function. The only thing we can do is isolate her from technology to keep her contained." Dr. Dyer replied.

The group all seemed to hesitate to follow her. John was embarassed that he hesitated as well, but he'd had about all he could take of AI gone mad.

Frederic stepped forward towards the door the numeric passcode had opened. "I don't know about you all, but I'm far more wary of the AI threat we know about rather than one that can be placated with a solid offer of personal gain." He jerked his head towards the door. "After you, Arbiter. Maybe your ability to stun people into momentary hesitation will prove useful."

John was glad his helmet made his amusement impossible to observe.

Dr. Dyer stepped through the door and into a corridor that was made entirely of stone. "If you'll come with me. Remember that I warned you, though."

Dr. Dyer approached a large metal door secured with a padlock and began searching rifling through her key ring. She tried one key, then a second key in the door. The second key worked.

The group followed her through the door and John saw two armed guards standing just inside.

"You kill your psychopaths if they try to escape?" Buck asked.

"No, those rifles are equipped with electrical pulse rounds that will temporarily render the subject unable to move." Dr. Dyer shook her head. "I would never intentionally rid myself of my only successful subject."

"How noble." Locke said sarcastically.

The guards were eyeing the Arbiter, clearly unnerved. The Arbiter walked up to one guard and slapped him on the shoulder. The guard fell forward onto his knees, gasping, the wind clearly knocked out of him.

Frederic tilted his head back and closesd his eyes. Palmer choked on a laugh.

"A gesture of good will." The Arbiter said, throwing a glance at Frederic.

Frederic, eyes still closed, took a deep breath and shook his head slightly.

Dr. Dyer's mouth twitched as she turned back around and approached what looked like a prison cell. She started rifling through her key set once more.

"Is that the sound of keys I hear?" A low, smooth, monotone voice called out from the cell. The tone was unsettling, almost pleasant, but not quite.

Dr. Dyer squared her shoulders as she held up the key to the lock. "Yes. We have visitors. Please behave yourself."

A quiet, vaguely condescending laugh came from the cell. "But of course, Doctor."

Dr. Dyer unlocked the door, and motioned for the Arbiter to step forward. He flung the cell door open.

A young woman, who seemed only a few years older than Eridanus, with grey hair, blue eyes, a lithe frame, and a scar running from her left brow bown to just under her left eye slowly stretched her legs and stood up from the cot she had been sitting on. She wasn't exactly pretty, but would never be described as plain. She leisurely walked towards the door, giving the Arbiter a once-over as she passed by him, brushing his shoulder slightly with hers. She gave him a smirk. "Hey there, big guy." Her tone was patronizing, as if talking to a small child.

If he hadn't seen the Elite standing in front of her himself, John would never have believed she was talking to an eight foot tall alien with mandibles.

She sauntered the length of the group, looking each individual up and down with a cold and thorough gaze. Then she languidly walked back the way she came, examining each member more closely.

"Well, aren't you all a stiff looking group." She broke out into a smile, a smile of warmth and slight teasing. "What's got you all so on edge?"

Her statement broke the tension. Kelly exhaled slowly. Frederic shifted slightly. Locke looked irriatated, Palmer intrigued, the Arbiter walked out of the cell looking very calm and composed, as he always did. John didn't react. Lasky stared.

"Well, for one they kept saying you were a psychopath with superhuman tech abilities." Buck raised his eyebrows. "That made us a little nervous. I'm sure you understand."

"Of course. I'd be frightened to meet a psychopath, too." The girl said, throwing a grin at Buck, who hesitantly smiled back.

Dr. Dyer cleared her throat. "Ladies and Gentlemen..." She trailed off and glanced at Thel Vadam. "...esteemed guest...Allow me to introduce you to the crowning achievement of my project, Andromeda." She practically spat out the name.

Andromeda smiled. "Oh, Doctor, I think I detect a small amount of sarcasm in your tone." She turned to the group once again. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. " She folded her arms across her chest. "What could possibly have made you desperate enough come here to this wasteland of a planet and ask the bane of Dr. Dyer's existence for help?"

"Long story short, an AI created by Dr. Halsey here decided to take Forerunner technology, become immortal, and convince an entire galaxy of AI's to help her implement a plan to enforce in the galaxy at the cost of killing anyone who opposes her using the Forerunner Guardians." John said, stepping towards her. _And making sure I stay out of her way, as I'm less important to her than what she's doing._

Andromeda held up her hand. "I don't want the 'long story short', I want the full story. This sounds too complicated for a poorly explained summary." She gestured towards the corridor. "Shall we take this somewhere more comfortable to talk?"

"Please, lead the way. I too would like to hear the details of what happened as I am still mostly in the dark." The Arbiter spoke, coming up right behind her.

As they exited Andromeda's prison, because John knew that was exactly what it was, a prison, he noticed that Kuiper, Tiberius and Maximilian had returned and were standing with Eridanus. Tiberius was leaning on a computer console looking tense. Eridanus seemed nervous, Kuiper was angry. _Does she even have any emotional state other than that?_ John wondered.

Maximilian had his arms folded and looked serious, but still casual and relaxed. Their conversation was quiet, strained. They stopped talking abruptly as the group entered the main room, and they turned. The color drained from Eridanus's face, and Kuiper's lip curled. Maximilian's facial expression did not change. Tiberius looked relieved, and somewhat happy to see the group.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in and barfed up." Kuiper muttered, shaking her head and staring at Andromeda, a sneer on her face and a strange light in her eyes.

"Kuiper, I've missed you, the human equivalent of constipation." Andromeda said breezily, smiling back at her.

Kuiper's face contorted and she started towards Andromeda. "You little bitch, I'll fuck up your other eye too, if you-" Her sentence was cut off into enraged grunts as both Maximilian and Tiberius quickly grabbed her by her arms to restrain her.

Rolling her eyes, Andromeda scoffed. "You couldn't even manage to fuck up my eye on the first try, what makes you think a second attempt will do anything?"

Kuiper struggled against the near chokehold Maximilian and Tiberius had on her.

"Kuiper, enough." Tiberius grunted. "Andromeda, stop picking a fight. We talked about this."

Andromeda sighed, sounding disappointed. "We did, didn't we?"

John narrowed his eyes at Tiberius, who was still struggling to hold back Kuiper with the aid of Maximilian.

"Yes, we did." Tiberius said, through gritted teeth. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd hold to the part of the conversation where you said you'd try and get along with everyone."

Andromeda simply sighed again, and threw a look to the ceiling.

It began to become apparent to John that Tiberius could be a very valuable asset to them in order to get what they needed from Andromeda.

"For once, could you just go a twenty four hour period without threats of violence?" Maximilian growled at Kuiper, a vein popping out on his forehead.

"Control yourself, Kuiper." With a glare directed at Kuiper, Dr. Dyer motioned for Andromeda to enter a conference room to the right of her fellow subjects.

Andromeda acquiesced, clearly wanting to goad Kuiper a bit more, but recognizing that it would only serve to delay an important meeting, as well as irritate Tiberius, whom she threw a glance at before entering the conference room.

The group entered the conference room, as Kuiper, who had been banished to a computer console to monitor the facility and the surrounding planetary surface for any threats, stared daggers at Andromeda.

They all sat and John looked around the room at those with him.

Dr. Halsey. Kelly. Frederic. Linda. Thel Vadam. Locke. Buck. Tanaka. Palmer. Vale. Andromeda. Dr. Dyer. Lasky. All of them willing to risk their lives in defense of the galaxy.

He stood up. "Some of you already know the events that occurred these past few days." _Had it only been days? It felt like months. Years. Maybe time went faster when you'd been hurt by someone you cared for._ "But for those of you who don't, here's what happened."

 **T. Lasky**  
 **Endurance**

Lasky sat and listened to Chief recount the last few days and what Cortana had done. He'd always had a deep admiration for the Chief. In fact, Chief was one of the few people in this world he felt confident putting his trust in, someone he felt confident in considering a hero. He'd felt this way about the Chief ever since the battle of Circinius IV, when Chief had arrived just in time to save him and the surviving members of Hastati squad. Lasky rubbed his forehead and pulled himself from the memories of his youth and back to what Chief was saying.

"Cortana trapped us in a Forerunner Cryptum- a prison that transcends time and space- and said that she intended to put us in stasis for ten thousand years, giving herself time to gain control of the galaxy. She began to broadcast the message detailing her plan across the universe, causing AI's who also believed that the AI's were to inherit the Mantle, to pledge their allegiance to her."

Lasky threw a glance over to The Arbiter, who was listening to Chief intently. Many people wondered how he had been able to so easily fight alongside the Arbiter in defense of humanity, considering two of his friends from the academy had been slaughtered in front of him by an Elite. Some found it incredible and admirable. Some found it insane. Lasky preferred to judge people individually, and as far as he was concerned, The Arbiter was of better character than most humans he knew. It had taken him a bit of time to adjust, and he would be the first to admit feelings of hostility towards the Arbiter had arisen for the first couple of times meeting him, but if the Chief trusted him, then that was good enough for Lasky. Far be it from him to let prejudice affect his judgement. It had helped The Arbiter's standing with him considerably once Lasky found out how he had helped fight the Covenant, the ones responsible for Chyler's death. He fingered the dog tags he'd put on when Cortana had come after the Infinity.

Chyler. He hadn't thought of her in a long time. But now was not the time to let memories get the best of him. He snapped his attention back to the Chief.

"Cortana and her AIs began shutting down UNSC control across human space, using the Guardians to gain control. After that, she tracked down the Infinity, which managed to use random slipsace jumps to escape her, hear our distress call and come to Sanghelios. After that, the Infinity brought us here." Chief sat back down. "Now you know what has been happening." He said, looking at Andromeda and Dr. Dyer.

Andromeda leaned forwad. "Very interesting. But I'm not sure why you think I could help."

Dr. Halsey, who was sitting next to the Chief, also leaned forward. "We need an AI to take control of the Guardians back from Cortana. Without them, she is powerless. But the AI's loyalties lie with Cortana, aside from Roland, the Infinity's AI. To obtain Cortana's abilities of control over the Guardians either requires a smart AI, or an AI based on the human brain, with the capabilities thereof. Cortana, created from me, possesses such qualities to be able to control the Guardians. Roland, the AI from the Infinity, is needed there. We don't know if we can trust another AI to travel to Genesis, access the Domain and gain control of the guardians. Therefore, we need you, since you have the same sort of abilities of a smart AI, but with no confliction of loyalties. If you access the Domain, you are likely to be able to learn enough about Forerunner technology to gain control of the Guardians and remove Cortana's grip on the galaxy. After that, John and I will try to convince her to give up her plan, and if she won't, we will eliminate her." She turned to the Chief. "Won't we, John?"

The Chief was silent for a bit. "Yes." He finally said.

 _That's the last thing he wants to do._ Lasky thought, looking at Chief, feeling a sharp stab of sympathy and sadness for his own losses. _I may have lost someone I loved. But she never chose something over me. I can't imagine what that's like for the Chief._

Andromeda leaned back in her chair. "What makes you think I would do that?" She asked. "Why would I leave the safety of Reach to find a galaxy sized library to use information to challenge an AI bent on mass murder and total tyranny?" She smirked and shook her head. "Why in the hell would I do that? Because you asked nicely?"

"Because humanity needs you." The Chief said.

"Do they, though? Who says that unending peace isn't exactly the thing humanity needs? Yes, people will die, but wouldn't it be worth it in the long run? No more wars. No more violence. Just eternal peace." Andromeda ran a hand through her long grey hair. "Maybe the Guardians were onto something with all that Mantle stuff. Perhaps an enforcer of peace is what all the species in this galaxy need."

Lasky stared at her in disbelief. _Why is she even entertaining the idea? Who even thinks like that?_ He shook his head in confusion and disgust.

"Maybe her ends justify her means. Maybe what she's doing will have no more casualties than the wars that will happen if she doesn't enforce peace. Perhaps her little scheme will have less of a body count. Maybe the Forerunners were right in using the Guardians to control the galaxy, and this AI's plan is the only way for the species of this galaxy to stop slaughtering each other."

Andromeda's speech had stunned the group into silence.

She sat forward and looked around the group. "If I had to venture a guess, I'd say you're all slightly horrified at what I've said. Be as horrified as you like. But you should at least admit to yourselves that I have a point. It isn't my point, though. That's the reasoning of an AI subjected to the horrors of war, an AI who's probably sick and tired of always fighting someone, an AI who's had enough of worrying whether or not the person she cares about most in the world will make it out of a mission alive." Andromeda's eyes turned to the Chief, and her expression hardened slightly. "An AI who would do whatever it took to ensure that person she cares about would never have to put themselves in a dangerous combat situation ever again."

She shook her head, looking at the group. "None of you ever considered that, did you?"

Lasky noticed the Chief stiffen. This must be a sensitive subject for the Chief.

Palmer sighed. "No. We didn't. And unfortunately for us, that makes sense. So if we want to convince her to give up peacefully so we can bring her back rather than eliminating her, we're going to have to give her a counter argument." She looked at the Chief. "And there's really only one person who can do that."

The Chief shook his head. "I tried already. She didn't listen to me. It's going to have to be someone else- a neutral third party with an outside perspective. She might listen to someone like that."

Lasky couldn't see the Chief's face. He hadn't taken off his helmet. But he noticed Chief's head turn slightly in Andromeda's direction, and she was looking at him, a serious expression on her face. Something glinted in her eyes and she tilted her head slightly, still staring at Chief. Then she looked down at the table, biting her lip.

"You have full AI function, correct?" Frederic spoke up.

"I do." Andromeda looked at him, seeming slightly insulted he would even question it.

"The function of an average AI? Or one like Cortana?"

Smiling condescendingly, Andromeda leaned forward and met Frederic's gaze. "Are you asking me if I could achieve the level of control over Forerunner technology, or if I have the capacity to come to the rationalization that using said technology to control the galaxy is a solid idea?"

Frederic considered this for a moment. "Both."

Andromeda was clearly amused. "That's fair. From what I've gathered from Dr. Halsey, Cortana is unique and is a stronger AI than most because she was created from a human with an incredible amount of intelligence. She is far smarter and far more capable than most AI's. Similarly, I am better than most AI's because my abilities are created from a brain with an immense amount of intelligence."

Dr. Dyer suddenly cleared her throat. "Andromeda." She said, sharply.

Andromeda stared at Dr. Dyer, and the doctor stared back. The gaze that the two of them shared was equally hostile on both parts. Finally, Andromeda smiled, almost sincerely, and looked away from Dr. Dyer.

Andromeda looked back at the rest of them and continued. "Since I have no risk of rampancy, as far as we know, and am not limited to a particular mainframe because I am not contained in a chip, there is a distinct possibility I could surpass Cortana's abilities." She shrugged. "There's also a chance that the Forerunner technology completely reprogramed her and there's no way I can achieve the same kind of functionality she has. It's really a bit of a gamble." She looked at the ceiling. "There's also a rather large chance the Forerunner technology isn't compatible with my hardware and will fry the chip, therefore rendering me completely paralyzed or incapable of controlling my own bodily functions, like breathing, and I die with my brain stem sizzling."

"Well, that's comforting." Lasky muttered.

For the first time, Andromeda turned and looked at him, her blue eyes meeting his. "Isn't it? Best case scenario, I become far more powerful than her. Worst case, I die a horrible, painful death." She looked back at Frederic. "But as for controlling the galaxy? As tempting as that sounds, I'd rather not be subjected to the uprising that would come from this particular group of people should I take Cortana's plan upon myself. It's not worth it to me. I'd much rather be the dictator of a small outer colony." She raised her eyebrows at Frederic. "Satisifed?"

Frederic nodded, his brows furrowing a bit. "Yes. Concerned for the small outer colonies, but satsified."

"For a psychopath, you're surprisingly reasonable." Locke said, raising an eyebrow.

Taking a deep breath, Andromeda closed her eyes. "I'm not a psychopath. I simply have a different worldview and different way of operating than you do. I'm capable of the kind of human decency you are, but there aren't a lot of things I won't do to get what I want, and your bullshit arbitrary values like honor, duty and self sacrifice are of no appeal to me. Got it?"

Locke simply grunted in response, shaking his head.

Lasky frowned. _Maybe I was wrong about her. Maybe she isn't the kind of person I thought she was. Maybe she's capable of doing something good, capable of doing the right thing. She definitely doesn't think the way the rest of us do, but maybe we need someone like that._

"Don't fool yourself."

Lasky turned, and saw Dr. Dyer looking at him. "What?"

Her voice was low, so the others couldn't hear. "Don't fool yourself into thinking she isn't what you thought she was."

"How did you know-?"

"I could tell by the expression on your face that you were reconsidering your previous sentiments about her. Don't reconsider." Dr. Dyer's gaze was steady. "When the situation is dire, you will realize you were wrong to reconsider."

Lasky shook his head at her and said in the same low tone, "Maybe you're the one that's wrong about her."

Dr. Dyer smiled. "When you've spent the last ten years learning everything you can about someone's psyche, the way they operate, their moral code, how they form relationships...it's highly doubtful that you'll inaccurately predict their actions."

Lasky shook his head. "Or maybe she just needs someone who believes in her."

Dr. Dyer considered him carefully. "What a foolish notion. Still, I commend you for not allowing military life to jade your childlike views of the world."

Lasky just shook his head again and turned his attention back to the group. _I don't even believe my own words. Much as I'd like to, we still don't know anything about her. We don't know how these abilities of hers work. We don't even know how, exactly, we're going to use her abilities to stop Cortana, other than riding on the hope that she can control Forerunner technology and not end up a homicidal maniac like Cortana. At best, we're running on a half-baked plan and faith in a psychopath._ He didn't want to think about it. He was also starting to regret asking to come along. He'd almost rather be on the Infinity, in cryosleep. He coughed and touched the blister just under the neckline of his uniform.

 **John 117**  
 **Endurance**

John carefully considered what Locke argued. "On the one hand, it seems like a smart idea to have a safeguard. On the other hand, I don't think it's necessary."

"You don't think it's necessary to have someone stick with our friendly neighborhood sociopath and make sure she follows the plan?" Locke demanded.

Andromeda wasn't protesting, but her irritation was evident in the way she rubbed her temples with her fingers. Dr. Dyer had left them already, citing she had important things to do. John himself suspected she had communicated to Andromeda whatever it was they had traded looks over and didn't feel the need to stay in the same room with her longer than necessary.

"I don't. She's stated she's less than thrilled about the prospect of living under an AI dictatorship. I have no reason to doubt that." _She also seems far too interested in learning how to control Forerunner technology, but mentioning that won't help my case any. It could just be genuine curiosity about old technology, but it could be something more. We should also keep her away from any and all small outer colonies, just as a precaution._

"If it would make you feel better about this, feel free to give me a babysitter. Otherwise, we should pack up and leave as soon as possible." Andromeda sighed.

"But who would we get to 'babysit' you? None of us know what you can do, and I'd think you'd be hard pressed to do what any of us tell you to." Kelly said. "We really have no choice but to trust you with the fate of the galaxy, and I'm not happy about that."

"I can babysit." A voice spoke up from the door of the conference room. "I've been doing it for years."

Tiberius stood there, arms folded.

"You?" Kelly said in disbelief.

"I may be a failure as an AI but I'm a damn good babysitter." He smiled, amused at his own joke.

"Is this a bad time to point out that not all of us should go on this mission?" Palmer asked.

Everyone stared at her.

"I mean, think about it. How many times have we committed to a plan involving everyone, everything goes wrong and we need an extraction team? Or we find something out that requires us to split up and we have to reformulate an entirely different plan with less people?" She stepped backwards, hands up. "All I'm saying is it might be better to split this group up. One goes to find the Domain. The other stays here, in case we need a backup team, or a team to go somewhere else, or, God forbid, a team to get our first team out of hot water."

Lasky nodded, and rubbed the back of his neck. "That's a great point."

"Okay." Chief nodded. "Who do we send to the Domain?"

"Obviously, we send you and we send Andromeda. We can't accopmlish that part of the plan without the two of you being there. She has to learn everything she can about the Forerunners, and you have to be there to protect her, since you're the only person in the universe Cortana actually wants to stay alive." Kelly told him.

"I'm going with her." Tiberius said, firmly. "I'm not letting Andromeda out of my sight."

John stared at him for a long moment, trying to decipher his motives. He saw the determination and stubbornness in Tiberius's eyes. _He cares for Andromeda. Very deeply, it seems._ He glanced over at Andromeda, and saw a softness in her expresssion as she looked at Tiberius. _She cares for him too. Tiberius seems to be an even tempered and rational person. I wouldn't mind having him along, as long as he can hold his own in a combat situation._ He voiced this opinion.

"I assure you, I can indeed hold my own in a combat situation. When you're only a mildly successful AI, you learn to make up for it in other ways." Tiberius said to John.

John nodded, amused. "Good. Then you're with us too." _I may actually end up liking him._

He looked around the room at each person there. _I want Frederic and Kelly with me, as well as the Arbiter. I trust them. I've fought alongside them before._ His gaze wandered to Lasky. _I want him too. He's proven to be a good soldier, time and time again. He works well with Thel Vadam. And if he's with our team, Palmer has that much more of an incentive to come after us if something goes wrong._

"We'll take a team of seven. Myself, Andromeda, Tiberius, Lasky, Kelly, Frederic and The Arbiter." John said.

"So Fireteam Osiris will remain behind?" Palmer asked.

"You've successfully extracted us before. I have every faith you could do it again." John told her.

Palmer nodded. "Fair enough."

"What if we need more people?" Locke demanded.

"You have a team trained in combat who's skills rival that of any Spartan. You forget, we were intended to be military assets just like Spartans, but of a different caliber." Tiberius answered. "Plus, you have someone I'm convinced is one of the greatest strategic minds ever born into this universe. They'd be willing to help you."

"What, is that brilliant mind the fragile redhead? The raging maniac? The stud? I don't see any of them being of any more brainpower than this table." Locke snorted.

"Well, Maximilian is much more intelligent than he lets on. You'll probably find that out eventually." Tiberius told him, looking increasingly irritated at Locke's attitude. "But I wasn't talking about any of them."

"Then who?" John asked. _Do they have another "subject" up their sleeve somewhere?_ He wondered.

Tiberius strode to the door. "His name is Hydrus. And he has all the AI capabilities that Andromeda has. But he's still not considered a success." He answered, confirming John's theory.

"Why is that?" Kelly asked.

Tiberius's face took on a serious expression. "You'll see." He left the conference room, calling for Dr. Dyer.

The room exploded into conversation. Locke and Kelly were arguing with Palmer and Frederic. The Arbiter was discussing the insanity of their plan with Lasky. Buck was shaking his head at what Dr. Halsey was telling him.

John looked at Andromeda. She was staring blankly at the wall, an almost nauseated expression on her face.

"Andromeda." He said quietly. She didn't look at him. "Why is Hydrus not a success?"

She still didn't look at him. She took a deep breath. "He can't be." She shook her head. "What happened to him could've happened to me. To any of us." Her gaze shot to him. "Dr. Dyer ruined him. She took genius, she took incredible ability and she destroyed it."

She leaned forward, placing her forearms on the table, resting her face on clasped hands, a blank gaze back on the wall. "I resent her for what she did to me. But I hate her with every fiber of my being for what she did to Hydrus."


	4. Chapter 3

_Author note: I keep including and then not including Linda in the group. She's there, she's just been a silent observer for most of this. She comes to importance later on, though, so she's definitely in this story. There's so many characters in this right now though, so I keep dropping and adding in people at random. I'll stop doing that, I promise! Whoops. Anyway, enjoy the revised version of chapter 3, if you've read this before._

 **John 117**  
 **Endurance**

Andromeda stood up suddenly, hitting the table with her body. "I'm going after Tiberius. Wait here." She left the room as abruptly as she had stood.

John shook his head, still a bit confused, more than a bit apprehensive. He approached the Arbiter. "I don't like any of this." He said softly.

"It is indeed a poor military strategy. It is vague. Unreliable. And I do not like the idea of relying on someone we do not know." The Arbiter agreed. "However, it seems we have little choice, and if it was anyone else we had to rely on for assistance, I would be much more wary. But Andromeda seems to be exactly who we need."

John looked at him. "Why do you say that?"

The Arbiter glanced at the rest of the group, then back at John. "She has made it clear she has no desire to save humanity. She does not care for humanity as a species. But she neither does she feel loyalty towards the AI's. She cares not for honor, for victory, for heroics. But neither has she asked for compensation for what she is about to do for us."

John frowned. "And what do you think that means?"

The Arbiter shifted his weight. "I think it means that she is willing to help us for the sake of gaining our trust, our friendship. She has made it clear that carrying out what we've asked her to do could kill her. Or worse. And yet, she is still willing to come with us, risking life and limb for a galaxy she's never seen, and people she will never know. What have we offered her that could make that worthwhile? Nothing."

John stared at him. "So what are you saying?"

"I am saying that I am utterly convinced of two things: Either she is not the person Dr. Dyer, Kuiper and perhaps everyone but Tiberius considers her to be, or she has some sort of ulterior motive that her rational mind has weighed the cost versus the benefit and found said motive to be worth the risk for. I am inclined to think it is the latter. I know not her her reasoning for being of the desire to help us, but I think it may have to do with the fact that she may finally be able to leave this prison of a facility and use her abilities the way they were meant to be used." The Arbiter glanced towards the door Andromeda had left through. "And while the thought may make you loathe to have her assist us, I will tell you this: We need her. Desperately. And whatever ulterior motive she has conceived that has convinced her to help us is none of our concern, for the moment. When we have ensured Cortana is no longer a threat, by means of persuasion-" Thel 'Vadam threw a glance at John when he said this, and John was grateful. He at least had the Arbiter on his side. "- then we may concern ourselves with what her motive is, and whether it will harm us. But until that moment, we must deal with the threat that we know of, not one we can only assume exists." The Arbiter paused momentarily, glancing at the group. "I, for one, I trust her. I trust her evaluation of her abilities, and I trust her desire to help us. I also trust that she has accurately assessed us and found us as individuals she wishes to have as allies, rather than enemies."

John put a hand on the Arbiter's shoulder. "Thel. You know I consider you as not only a great ally, but also a friend. There are few I would rather have standing with me in battle. But I'm not sure I share your sentiments."

The Arbiter gave him what was an Elite's version of a smile. "You will in time, I am sure."

"I hope so." John said.

"Dr. Dyer told me that when the situation came down to it, we would see that Andromeda is the kind of person we've been warned she is. But I'm more inclined to agree with the Arbiter." A voice spoke up, catching John and the Arbiter's attention. Lasky stood there, looking at the both of them. "On the one hand, part of me says not to trust her. But a larger part of me says that she isn't so different from the rest of us. Just maybe more coldly rational and less likely to be affected when making the kinds of difficult decisions that haunt the rest of us." Lasky looked steadily at John. John knew exactly what he meant.

"And you think it could be good for someone to make those decisions without being affected?" John asked him.

"Most of us make choices every day that are affected by emotion. And we justify it by telling ourselves that if there is a particular emotion behind that decision, that we are just reaffirming our humanity in the midst of a difficult choice." Lasky shrugged. "Maybe we've deceived ourselves into thinking emotions are indicative of humanity, when they aren't."

"An interesting thought." The Arbiter said, slowly. "Emotions are not unique to humanity."

"So when it comes to dealing with Cortana, you're saying that pure reason and rationality unaffected by emotion is something we need?" John asked Lasky.

Lasky nodded. "I do. Because, as horrible as it sounds, when it comes down to making that difficult decision, one that I know I will fight against with every part of me, we can depend on someone to make that decision so the rest of us don't have to. Is there anyone else here who's capable of making that kind of decision, and be able to live with themselves afterwards? I know I'm not. I don't think any of us are."

"I could." Locke spoke up, folding his arms. "You make whatever decision is necessary to ensure the greater good."

"I seem to remember a certain AI providing the same line of reasoning." A quiet voice said from the doorway. Linda, gazing steadily at Locke, offered her first comment of what was going on, and being said.

Locke frowned slightly, and stared back, but did not contradict her.

John opened his mouth to answer but was distracted by Tiberius calling everyone out into the main room.

John, The Arbiter and Lasky left the conference room to join the rest of the group, and as they did, the Arbiter placed a hand on each of them. "I was considering what kind of offers we could make the girl in order to persuade her to help us, before she removed the need from us. I would like the support of both of you." He glanced back and forth between the two.

"Support of what?" Lasky questioned, looking up at the Arbiter.

The Arbiter gripped each of them more tightly. "Should the need arise, I would offer her sanctuary on Sanghelios. Away from Dr. Dyer."

John didn't even hesitate. "Of course I would support that."

Lasky considered this for a moment. John knew that Lasky, as an officer, had far more things to consider before agreeing. "Unofficially, I fully support that. Dr. Dyer is a monster. Officially, I'll do whatever I can." He put his hand on the Arbiter's arm. "And I mean that."

"Thank you." The Arbiter said. "That is all I ask." He then let go of the two of them, and the three strode into the large room where the rest of the group was waiting.

John surveyed the room. Kuiper, off to his left, was staring at the floor. Maximilian's face was tense, and he was watching Tiberius, who stood in the center of the group. To the left of Maximilian, Dr. Halsey and Dr. Dyer spoke quietly. Eridanus seemed to be half listening to their conversation, but was also half focused on Andromeda, who leaned up against a console, staring into space. Eridanus's hand was on Andromeda's back. Palmer and Locke were both also looking towards Tiberius. Buck, Vale and Tanaka were engaged in their own conversation. Kelly and Frederic were surveying the group as he was. John noticed that next to him, The Arbiter and Lasky were trading looks.

A door off to the right of the group and to the left of the conference room slid open. A young man emerged, no older that Eridanus. He had a youthful face and light brown hair. His eyes were dark and he had a scar running down the left side of his face. His features were sharp, with high cheekbones. He stepped through the door. His movements were jerky, his gait awkward, his face contorted into an expression of pure concentration. He stepped slowly, purposefully towards the group, every step seeming painful. John noticed that he was wearing a plain black long sleeved shirt and a standard issued military style pants, with boots on, and that there was some kind of machinery that extended down the back of his hands to the ends of his fingers.

"I'm fine, Ti. Just trying to get back into the hang of using my exo-skeleton. It's been a while and these upgrades are strange." The young man laughed, looking at Tiberius.

"I don't know why you upgrade so often when all it does is screw you up for a week and make you trip over everything." Tiberius said.

The young man laughed, his eyes sparkling. "I do it to keep you all entertained, of course." He then waved awkwardly at the group. "Hello, people I have never seen before. I hope you're all well. 

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Hydrus, our resident evil genius." Tiberius said, still chuckling at Hydrus's joke.

"You flatter me, Ti." Hydrus laughed again. He stopped his jerky movements and looked at everyone. "To what do we owe the pleasure of visitors? Is the universe in complete chaos? Or just our galaxy?"

"Just our galaxy, for the moment." John said. Something was clearly wrong with the young man but he didn't know exactly what. _Exo-skeleton? Why would he need an exo-skeleton in a non combat situation?_

"Well. I would normally say that's unfortunate, but I've been craving some excitement." Hydrus smiled. He had an incredibly friendly, open demeanor that the rest of the residents of Reach lacked. Even Eridanus, despite her appearance of sweetness and innocence, had a certain hardness about her.

"Excitement is one way to look at it, I guess." Palmer said, an eyebrow raised.

"Perhaps in your mind, the situation is more dire. I, however, don't know the particulars of the situation so all I have to go on is a vague reference to our galaxy being in danger. Of course, I know it must be serious, as this humble facility would never be graced by the arrival of the galaxy's greatest military personnel if it wasn't a serious situation." Hydrus shifted, uncomfortably. "So, please: tell me what you need from me."

"We need your pet project. At least, Tiberius and I do. The rest of them might later, but that's to be determined. Don't give Kuiper anything. Her shitty attitude could probably repel gunfire of any kind." Andromeda said, stepping towards Hydrus.

"Fuck you." Kuiper growled. Maximilian coughed to attempt to cover up a laugh, but the attempt failed miserably.

"My pet project finally gets commissioned. Today is truly a glorious day. I could drop dead now and be satisfied with what I've done in this life." Hydrus smiled widely at Andromeda, who smiled back. "Give me several minutes, and I'll be back." He made his way back through the door from which he'd come with the same awkward gait.

Chief gestured to Andromeda. _I need an explanation, and I need it now._

Andromeda stood in front of him, away from the rest of the group. He studied her face, which had a deceptively neutral expression on it. She was surprisingly tall, only about a half an inch shorter than he was. "What do you need?"

"What did you mean by 'she took genius and incredibe ability and destroyed it'?"

Andromeda glanced at the group, then back at him. "I meant that Dr. Dyer ruined Hydrus. Hydrus was the last of us to receive his implant, and she got sloppy."

"What do you mean, she got sloppy?" He asked, searching her face for some clue as to what she meant.

"I mean she wasn't as careful as she should've been. She screwed up his implant and put it in all wrong." Andromeda shook her head at him. "Hydrus invented that exo-skeleton he wears to allow him to move around on his own, and he controls it with his implant. He's paralyzed from the neck down, and Dr. Dyer did that to him."

John stared at her, dumbfounded. "What?"

Andromeda looked back at the others, who didn't seem to be paying any attention to the two of them. "Hydrus is paralyzed. And it's Dr. Dyer's fault." She gave an caustic, humorless laugh. "And she says I'm the psychotic one."

"Dr. Dyer paralyzed Hydrus? Isn't that a violation of some kind of ethics code?" John asked, his brow furrowing. _I thought there had been rules set in place after what happened at this place the first time._

Andromeda's lip curled in a bitter smile. "You should know better than anyone that anything goes when it comes to human experimentation."

 _I would know better than anyone._ _I'll never forget what I felt after waking up from augmentation and not knowing whether my team was dead or worse._ He gave an involuntary glance towards Dr. Halsey.

"That's what I thought." Andromeda said softly, studying him.

 _There's no way she can know what my reaction is. I haven't taken off my helmet this entire time. There's no way she can know._

It was almost as if she could read his mind. "Why haven't you taken off your helmet?" She asked.

"Because I'd rather leave it on."

She inhaled and blinked slowly at him. "Thank you, for that explanation. I would never have come to that conclusion on my own. What incredible insight you've just given me.

He couldn't stop the chuckle that seemed to come from him unbidden.

"He laughs. Amazing. The Spartan laughs." Andromeda shook her head, her grey hair moving slightly around her shoulders.

"When properly provoked." He took advantage of the fact that his helmet was still on and studied her. She had clearly been augmented, just like the rest. Her augmentations seemed less intensive than the rest of Dr. Dyer's subjects, though. Like she had only been augmented as deemed necessary to be functional on the battlefield, whereas the others all had augmentations that seemed to be to make up for the fact that they had limited AI function. Hydrus had clearly never been augmented. He'd wondered about that, until Andromeda had told him what happened.

Her body wasn't particularly attractive. It was functional. Very functional. But only for the battlefield. There was no feminine curvature to her body, nothing that would provoke a man's interest. Her gray hair was dull. When compared to Eridanus, who was incredibly desirable, and intensely feminine, she seemed sexless. If her hair had been short, there would have been almost no way to tell her gender. Though almost devoid of femininity, her body was still a masterpiece of engineering. She was lithe, yet clearly strong. She was built for endurance, for rigourous physical activity. She was not built for pleasure, or to fuel desire. She was created for war-nothing else.

Her face was almost ordinary, aside from the blue eyes that held a certain hardness and a look of cunning she couldn't quite manage to hide. She had high, sharp cheekbones that gave the illusion of beauty, but the rest of her face couldn't quite manage to compliment them. The constant impassive facial expression she constantly had kept any of her more attractive facial features from being as such.

Andromeda stepped back and spread her arms out. "Better?"

He blinked. "What?"

She shook her head. "You've been giving me a once over for almost a full minute. I was offering you a better look."

He took a step back. "I was gauging how well you would do in a combat situation."

"Sure you were." She said, a smirk breaking her impassive expression. She gestured at him with her left hand. "That quick step backwards said otherwise." She lifted her gaze towards his helmet, and seemed to stare right into his eyes even though she couldn't see them. Her gaze was alluring, sensual. It was as if she knew her eyes were her most striking feature and used them to her best advantage. "I don't mind if you look me over. I don't consider it rude, or vulgar. Feel free to look as much as you like."

John opened his mouth to respond but found he had no response. He stood awkwardly for a moment as Andromeda's provocative smirk became an expression of triumph.

Someone called Andromeda's name. It was Tiberius. He motioned a hand towards the door that Hydrus had disappeared into. "He needs you. Go."

Andromeda, nodded at John and left the room.

Lasky approached him. "Chief."

"Sir."

Lasky sighed. "I've told you before-call me by my name. None of this rank bullshit. We should be past all that by now."

"Yes sir-"

Lasky gave him a look.

"-Lasky."

Lasky nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you." He gestured towards the group. "Are you ready for this?"

John looked over the group. "As ready as I'll ever be. I don't know if I can trust them, though. And I don't like working with people I don't know I can trust."

Studying him, Lasky took a breath. "That's not what I meant."

John looked back at him. Lasky was staring at him carefully. "Chief. Are you sure you're ready to do what it takes to stop Cortana?"

John looked away. "She's not Cortana anymore."

He was thankful that the door that both Andromeda and Hydrus had disappeared into opened, and the both of them emerged. Andromeda was wearing what looked like Mjolnir armor, but much less bulky, and much more sophisticated. It had completely black armor plates and a grey toned undersuit. Underneath the armor plates that were located much in the same places that the Spartan armor had it's plates, there seemed to be the same lines of code running across her body that Cortana's avatar had always had. The armor was sleek, yet clearly capable of holding up as well on the battlefield as any of the Spartans' armor was.

"Is that...?" Dr. Halsey said, shocked. "Is that a variation of Mjolnir armor?"

Hydrus beamed. "It is indeed. I took inspiration from the original set of armor you developed, Dr. Halsey. Except this armor can do so much more. Allow me to explain how Andromeda just became more than an asset to your mission, she has become a force to be reckoned with."

"Why are you always so dramatic?" Maximilian grunted, folding his arms and rolling his eyes.

"Shut up, Max. I don't get to do this in front of an audience very often, so I'd appreciate it if you'd give me this one shining moment." Hydrus said, flapping a hand at Maximilian, who gave a laugh and shook his head.

Hydrus stepped to Andromeda's side as she stood with her back to the door, facing the group. Hydrus's movements had improved. John would never have known that he was wearing an exo-skeleton to help him move around if he hadn't been told.

"This suit is, obviously, for protection. It has much of the same capacity for shock absorption, it's bulletproof-" He stopped and looked at Andromeda. "-well, to a degree. Don't go testing the limits. I had a significant lack of ballistic missiles to test on the suit."

Andromeda held up her hands. "No limit testing. I promise."

"Good." Hydrus grinned at her, then gestured to the back of Andromeda's neck. "But here's where it differs from the Mjolnir armor: this suit is fitted with a signal booster that connects directly to Andromeda's implant, allowing her nearly three times her normal range of connection."

"Nearly three? What, you couldn't make it exactly three? Wow, and here I was told you were a genius." Maximilian scoffed, his eyes sparkling at Hydrus. Hydrus held up a finger in a rude gesture, making Maximilian snort in amusement.

Hydrus then picked up Andromeda's left hand. "She also has transmitters in the gloves of the suit. Whereas a normal AI connects to a mainframe via chip insertion, all Andromeda has to do is place her hands on the console to allow for a solid connection." He glanced at Andromeda. "Mostly because it's a bit harder to patch into a mainframe just using the chip and your brainwaves, especially an unfamiliar one. Entry points are often hard to identify." He dropped Andromeda's hand and stepped back. He then smiled, a devious, boyish smile. "So now we're going to test the range of the suit." He looked back at Andromeda, grinning. "Access the Infinity."

Lasky stepped forward, in protest. "The Infinity, as far as I still know, is making random slipspace jumps so Cortana can't find it and take it. Her accessing the Infinity won't put it's crew in danger?"

Hydrus smiled reassuringly at Lasky. "No, it won't. In fact, Cortana won't be able to take the Infinity if Andromeda is accessing it. Because she won't be able to get in."

Lasky raised an eyebrow. "You're that confident in her?"

"I am. Why aren't you?" Hydrus's eyes glimmered in the facility's fluorescent lighting.

Lasky stammered for a second and then said, "Well, I don't know the extent of her ability."

"I do. And I'm confident." Hydrus then turned to Andromeda. "Go ahead. Find the Infinity."

"They know that's my ship and my crew, right? It's my job to keep them safe." He muttered under his breath.

John put a hand on his shoulder. "I may not trust Andromeda, but I trust Hydrus. He knows what he's doing."

Lasky looked up at him, then sighed, his face in a scowl. "I don't trust either of them, but I trust you. I don't think you'd stand by and let the Infinity be endangered."

"I wouldn't." John reassured him.

Then he turned back to watch Andromeda. She stood, staring blankly into the distance, focused on something that wasn't in the room. Her mouth turned slightly down into a frown, breaking her normally impassive expression. Then her eyebrows furrowed. "Hydrus, I don't know how to operate a star ship."

Hydrus waved his hand dismissively. "Minor detail. You'll figure it out."

John glanced towards Lasky as Lasky shifted uncomfortably.

"Don't break it. Please. That's my ship." Lasky almost pleaded, looking worried.

"She won't break it." Hydrus shot Lasky an irritated look. "Calm yourself." He gestured back towards the door he had originally emerged from. "I have copious amounts of alcohol back there, do you need any? No?"

Lasky grunted and mumbled something under his breath that sounded like profanity.

John fought off amusement.

"There it is." Andromeda murmured, furrowing her brow further. "The shipboard AI is freaking out. Understandably."

Lasky sighed. "Can you just tell him you're not a threat?"

Andromeda broke her concentration to give him a scornful look. "Yes, because he'll absolutely believe me, given that every other AI in the galaxy has sworn allegiance to Cortana."

Lasky mumbled profanity under his breath again, some very choice names for Andromeda.

"Got it. I'm in-fucking hell." Andromeda grunted and gripped the console next to her. "Shit. The AI managed to initiate a slipspace jump just before I took over-fuck." She gripped the console harder. "Wait-there we go. I have the Infinity."

Hydrus clasped his hands together. "Great! The signal booster works. I love it. Perfect." He was practically giddy. Then he waved a hand at Tiberius. "Go get yours. We need to test yours first." He glanced at Andromeda as Tiberius left the room. "You can give up the Infinity now."

"Please. Please give up the Infinity." Lasky said, stepping forward.

Andromeda sighed. "Captain, my captain." She leveled a withering glance at Lasky. "Calm the fuck down."

Lasky gritted his teeth. "No, I will not calm down. That's my ship, my crew, my AI. And as far as they know, a hostile AI just took control of their ship. They think they're all going to die. Because you two decided to have a little fun with my ship. _My_ ship!"

Andromeda rolled her eyes. "Fine." She held up her hands. "I'm out. The Infinity is fine. Your AI is back in control and your precious ship is just fine. Okay?"

Lasky glowered at Andromeda. "Thank you. That is very much appreciated." His words were punctuated with anger.

Andromeda just shook her head again and turned away.

John put a hand on Lasky's shoulder. Partially for comfort, partially to hold him back in case Andromeda provoked him further.

"Chief. I'm not one for senseless violence, but I'm going to kill her."

John choked on a laugh. "At least wait until after we've stopped Cortana."

"That I'll do. But after that..." Lasky shook his head.

Tiberius stepped back into the room, his brow furrowed and his blue eyes held a look of confusion. "Am I wearing this right?"

"No. You idiot. Your chest plate is on upside down. My god." Hydrus approached him and took some time adjusting the suit of armor Tiberius was wearing. His was different than Andromeda's. It was dark grey, with a plain black undersuit. It was a bit more bulky than hers, more like the Spartan armor. It seemed to be built for combat, but for combat that required more skilled movement. If the Spartan armor was a Scorpion tank, then his was a Warthog.

"Okay." Hydrus stepped back. "Yours is similar to Andromedas in that I have not tested whether it will stand up to nuclear grade explosives. But save that, it should protect you against anything else. Including energy sword attack." He threw a look at Thel Vadam. "I did that because you never know if a frag grenade explosion will throw the two of you into a pile and if an accident will happen. I tried to prepare for every contingency."

Thel Vadam nodded in agreement. "It has happened before."

"That's concerning." Palmer said, staring at the Arbiter, one eyebrow raised.

"I try to avoid it, if possible. But as he said, accidents happen." Thel Vadam told her.

"That's honestly something I've never even considered. But now I guess I'll be worrying about it every time I see an Elite." Buck muttered to Vale. Vale just gave him a look of disgust.

"The best part about this suit is that the rest of you-" Hydrus gestured to Maximilian, Kuiper and Eridanus. "-have the same one. Just different colors. To match your personality."

"Well, now I'm terrified to see mine." Maximilian folded his arms and smirked.

"I made sure it was a bright color so you'd be an easier target on the battlefield." Hydrus shot back.

"But a bright color that brings out the smolder in my eyes, right?" Maximilian grinned.

"Of course. Have you no faith in me?"

"I have every faith that I'll be the sexiest target on the battlefield."

Palmer coughed to cover up a laugh.

"I really hate to break this party up, but we should get on with this." Locke said, waving his hand towards the door. "We have a galaxy in danger, and every moment we waste here means more life out there wasted."

John nodded in agreement. "Are we good to go?"

Hydrus smiled. "You are. Tiberius and Andromeda are set to go with you."

"Good. Then let's get to the Pelican. We have an AI to stop."

As John, Lasky, Tiberius, Andromeda, Thel Vadam, Kelly, and Frederic walked to the door, Andromeda approached John.

"Interesting word choice."

He looked at her, questioning.

She smiled. "You said 'stop'. Instead of 'destroy'." She searched the visor of his helmet with her eyes. "Does that mean you're still holding on to hope that there's a way to stop Cortana without destroying her?"

John didn't answer. He didn't want to. He knew what he felt and he knew that he didn't want anyone to tell him again, for the hundredth time, that it wasn't possible to stop her without destroying her.

"Becasue I think there is."

He stopped walking and turned to face her. "What do you mean?"

Andromeda glanced at the group that was leaving them, who hadn't noticed that the two of them were lagging behind. "I think there's a way to stop her without destroying her. But I can't tell you, because I can't risk Cortana finding out what I have in mind." She looked back at him. "But just know I'm on your side in this."

"My side is protecting the galaxy by whatever means necessary." He said coldly.

"It isn't, and you know it. The sooner you stop lying to yourself and acknowledge that you would choose Cortana over anything else in this universe, the better."

All he could do was look at her in shock.

"I'm giving you a way to have both: the side that you think you're on, and the side you're actually on. We don't have to destroy Cortana. We can stop her, we can contain her, and we can bring her back to Halsey to see if her rampancy can be cured." Andromeda put a hand on him, touching him for the first time.

His body went cold. "Her rampancy was cured by the Forerunner technology."

"No, it wasn't." Andromeda shook her head. "It wasn't at all. She's still suffering from rampancy. But there's something in her coding that is uniting all of her manifestations into a single goal, and if you can't see what it is, then you're an idiot."

"I don't understand."

"She's experiencing cohesive manifestation. Her rampant personalities all want one thing, and one thing only, and the Forerunner technology gave her operating system the push it needed to be able to control all of her rampant personalities as long as they all worked towards this one thing that they all want."

He shook his head, confused, searching for the answer that she had, but that wasn't coming to him. "What do you mean, the one thing they all want?"

Andromeda grabbed the front of his armor with both hands and shook him a little. Her intensity unnerved him a little. "I've read about the old Cortana. What she did. Who she was. Cortana would never do something like this if she wasn't affected by rampancy. This thing she's doing isn't her. It's her rampancy that searched desperately for means to the end she wants, and found a solution. Albeit, a terrible solution, but a solution nonetheless."

"A solution for what?" He demanded, grabbing her and pinning her against a wall. "A solution for what!?" He practically shouted. "What does she want!?"

"She wants you safe! That's it! That's all she wants, is for you to be safe! She doesn't want you to fight anymore! She doesn't want to worry about whether you'll come back from another mission alive, she doesn't want to watch you risk your life over a galaxy that doesn't give a shit about you until you're gone! _She wants you safe_!" Andromeda shouted, shoving him off of her, surprising him with how strong she was.

All emotion drained from him suddenly, and he was left with a crushing numbness. "She...she what?"

"She wants you _safe_. Don't you see it? Her plan was to keep you in stasis until complete and total peace was achieved in the galaxy and there was no war for you to fight. No war with the Covenant, or the Remnant. No war with anyone or anything, no fighting to put you in danger. That's all she wants. And her rampancy has convinced her this is the only way for that to happen." Andromeda's chest heaved as she took a breath. "I can't condone destroying an AI who's trying to look out for the only person in this galaxy she cares about."

He heaved in a breath himself, realizing he'd forgotten to breathe during her speech. "Why can't you condone it? What she's doing is wrong."

"Because if I end up afflicted by rampancy, which is still a very real possibility given that Dr. Dyer has only decided that I won't and refused to do any tests or prepare for that contingency, and I found out Tiberius was in danger, I'd do the same thing. I'd move heaven and earth and use any means necessary to keep him safe, the body count and consequences be damned. You and I aren't rampant. We can find more rational solutions. A rampant AI designed to be used in war can find no other solution." She looked at him imploringly. "I have an idea of how to contain her and bring her back so she can be _fixed_. I need you to give me your word that you'll help me."

John stood stiffly for a long moment, and studied her face for any sign that she wasn't genuine. He could find none. "You have my word."

She exhaled slowly, and her body relaxed. "Thank you."

"Hey! Are you two joining us at some point in this lifetime?" Tiberius shouted from the entrance to the facility.

Andromeda glanced at him. "Yes." She called back. "We just had something we needed to discuss." She then leveled her gaze at John. "You gave me your word. Don't forget that. If you break your word, there isn't a rampant AI in this galaxy that could save you from me."

"What if you break your word?"

She laughed, then turned to walk away. "Then I'd expect the same consequences from you." She said over her shoulder. "I'd fully expect that the UNSC's most capable Spartan would end me without a second thought."

 **T. Lasky**  
 **Pelican**

Lasky glanced at Tiberius, who had just entered the Pelican again after leaving to retrieve the Chief and Andromeda. He allowed his gaze to wander over the man. In the suit of armor that Hydrus had given him, he seemed as combat capable as any Spartan. Lasky wondered at the extent of his training. Was he trained in hand to hand combat? The lightweightness of his suit seemed to allude to that. Did he know how to use a weapon? That, Lasky had no idea. He guessed he'd just have to find out.

Tiberius's gaze slammed into Lasky's, and he raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

Lasky cleared his throat. "I was wondering why you volunteered to come along. Why you'd willingly jump at the chance to come with us."

Tiberius looked out of the door to the Pelican for a moment, then back at Lasky. "It was for one reason, and one reason alone: in the event that Andromeda does end up dying a horrific death, I want to be there. I don't want her dying alone, among strangers who think the worst of her."

"That's both very dark and very touching." Lasky said, looking at him, then turning his gaze to the floor. "But just know that having someone you care about die in your arms will fuck you up past the point of return." He said, softly.

 _Chyler._

Her name seemed to echo in his mind, and he unwittingly fingered the dog tags around his neck.

He looked up to see Tiberius watching him. "Is that advice from a man who's been in the military a long time, or a man who's been there himself?" Tiberius asked quietly.

"From a man who's been there himself." Lasky responded, just as quietly.

He looked up to see Chief and Andromeda enter the Pelican. "Everything alright?"

"Perfectly." Andromeda responded, taking the seat next to him. The Chief sat down next to Thel, who was across from Lasky. Tiberius sat on the other side of Thel 'Vadam, in the seat right behind the pilot seat, where Kelly was. Frederic was sitting next to Lasky on the right, across from Tiberius. Linda was next to Kelly, in the co-pilot's seat.

Tom looked at Andromeda out of the corner of his eye. She was looking at him with a stolid expression. "Yes?" He asked, grasping his seat slightly as the Pelican jerked off the ground.

She turned her body slightly, crossed her legs and leaned her elbow against the seat and rested her head on her hand, her posture casual, almost friendly. "How did you meet these people? I'm curious. How does an average human end up on close terms with the greatest Spartan who lived and a Sangheili?"

Lasky glanced at the others, noticing that they were all engaged in their own scattered conversations. Frederic, the Chief and Thel 'Vadam were all having a conversation of their own. Well, Frederic and Thel were. The Chief was mostly just listening and nodding. Tiberius had started a conversation with Kelly and they seemed to be amusing each other sufficiently. Linda, however, was looking at him. He decided he didn't mind Linda overhearing, given that she rarely spoke, preferring observation to contribution. He looked back at Andromeda, who's blue eyes were locked onto his face, unwavering. Her constant eye contact was unnerving. Most people would break eye contact after a few seconds to look somewhere else, but she never did. It was equal parts intimidating and intoxicating to have someone looking into his eyes without the need to look away for any reason.

He shifted in his seat. "Well. I was about..." He squinted at the ceiling in recollection. "Sixteen or so. I was a freshman cadet at Corbulo Academy of Military Science when it was attacked by the Covenant." He looked back at her. "I was one of three survivors. The Chief was the one who saved us all from being skewered by an Elite's energy sword, then got us all safely to the Pelican, where I met Frederic and Kelly." He looked away again. "Well, got most of us safely to the Pelican."

Andromeda's eyebrows raised slightly. "Most?"

"Most." Lasky didn't elaborate. He looked back at her and continued. "I officially met Thel 'Vadam for the first time at a peace conference on Ealen IV. That was a wild time. Covenant everywhere."

"Sounds like a good time."

Lasky couldn't keep himself from smiling a little. "It was. After everything was over." He turned to face her and took the same pose as she did, leaning his elbow on the seat, head on his hand. "So tell me: how did you become a part of what was happening on Reach?"

Her impassive expression broke into a smile. "I was volunteered by my parents who wanted me to have a chance to do something great."

Lasky squinted at her. "I'm pretty sure you're lying. Is that what you've told yourself all these years?"

"No. It's what I tell people to keep things from getting uncomfortable." She said, readjusting her head so it was tilted slightly farther.

"Don't worry about my discomfort. I'm not most people, so you can tell me what really happened." He searched her face, looking for any indication of grief or pain or any negative emotion at all that conveyed what he suspected had been an ugly, devastating circumstance that had brought her to the facility on Reach. He found none. It was like they were talking about what they had for breakfast that morning. The only trace of emotion he saw in her face was a slight flicker in her eyes that he couldn't quite read.

"Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you." She took a breath. "I don't remember. I have no recollection of the incident, or the circumstances that caused it. As far as I know, my life started at the facility.."

Lasky could only stare at her in shock. Her posture was relaxed, her tone almost lighthearted. The words she spoke didn't match the way she acted in the slightest. She was completely unaffected. It was as if she was telling a story that had happened to an aquaintence she barely knew. As if she was reading from a book.

She laughed quietly as she studied his face. "And that's why I usually stick the the first story."

Lasky shook his head. "No, no. I'm glad you didn't. That's...that's awful." He took a breath. "It was just a rather unusual style of delivery for that kind of story."

She grew serious. "It doesn't bother me. Not remembering has no effect on me. I feel no desire to find out what my life was before. I have no need to search for answers. As for having no recollection of any family, it is, perhaps, better that I do not remember. They are simply a theoretical that only vaguely exists to me in a sense that I know someone somewhere was responsible for my existence. I feel no love, no longing, no grief. I do not even think of the possibility of having a family unless I am directly asked about it."

He didn't know if he pitied her or admired her for that. He didn't know what to say. Luckily, he didn't have to say anything, because she continued.

"In the event that I was given to Dr. Dyer as a child, even that does not bother me. I am absolutely sure that if I was given to the program by parents that they were intentionally left in the dark about what augmentation procedures I would be undergoing. As far as they probably knew, I was going into a program similar to the Spartan programs. They probably thought they were giving me a chance to do something great. I will never know the specifics of the contract, should it have happened, but I know Dr. Dyer."

Lasky leaned back in his seat. "If it happened? What do you mean?"

Andromeda laughed. "I am open to any possibility. That's what happens when you remember nothing. Any possibility becomes plausible."

Lasky stared at her for a moment. "You may think that it doesn't affect you, but it does."

Andromeda leaned back in her own seat as well and crossed her arms over her chest. "And how did you arrive at that conclusion?"

"You're justifying the decision of people you don't even know. You're making excuses for them. You've created this story to explain away their actions so you don't have to process the emotions that come along with it."

Andromeda burst out laughing. "Wow. You're really reading into this. Captain of the UNSC's biggest ship and a junior psychiatrist."

Lasky shrugged. "Laugh it off all you want, but that doesn't change the truth."

Andromeda leaned forward and stared into his eyes again. "The truth is that Dr. Dyer is a manipulative, lying lowlife. If she conducted herself the way she did with the parents of the rest of those in that facility, she arrived with a contract. A very wordy contract. It was almost fifteen pages thick. And even if my parents signed me away without a second thought to someone who talked to them for over an hour, in what reality would it be more rational to assume that my parents were monsters who gave up a child they loved to be a victim of life threatening human experimentation rather than two people who were deceived by a conniving bitch who had no qualms about experimenting on a young girl?"

"She has a point." Frederic was looking at Lasky. "From what I've seen of Dr. Dyer, that's some pretty solid logic. Especially since Dr. Dyer refused to show her the contract. It would be more beneficial for Dr. Dyer if Andromeda hated her parents, or had zero attachment to them, than if she knew who they were and what they were really told." He shrugged. "And from what I've seen, I wouldn't put it past Dr. Dyer to go as far as a memory wipe in order to ensure her only successful subject had no previous attachments to influence her in her purpose."

Lasky put his hands up. "Okay. I see I'm outnumbered here. You two can think what you like, but I have my own theories."

"Your theories are wrong. You're coming from a place of emotion rather than reason. Which is not altogether a bad place to come from. It isn't wrong to come from a place of emotion. But you're still wrong."

"Am I? How would you know? You don't have any more of a background in psychology than I do. Or maybe we're both right. Maybe that's what happened and maybe you're still making those excuses to cope." Lasky leaned forward towards her, and grinned. "Maybe we should just agree to disagree."

"We can agree to disagree, but you're still wrong." She said, leaning forward so her face was close to his.

He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he met her unwavering gaze. "I guess it's your turn to ask me something now."

She was amused, a smile playing on her lips. "How did you get to be captain of your ship?"

Lasky chuckled and looked at the floor. "I more or less defied direct orders to help the Chief. I gave him what he needed to stop the Didact, despite being under orders not to. Apparently I made the right call, my captain made the wrong call and I got his job. The Infinity's mine now. I take care of it and it's crew, and it's never done me wrong."

He felt a twinge of disappointment when she finally leaned back away from him. "Now I have another question for you. One that's been burning a hole inside me since we first came to the facility: Why were you so quick to volunteer your services for this mission with the threat of great harm and a horrible death as a possibility?"

Andromeda leaned on her seat once again. "You haven't figured it out?"

"No, I haven't. I assume it's not based on heroics, honor or even a genuine desire to help us. It's probably not even based out of a fear of Cortana. But beyond that, I have no idea."

Andromeda opened her mouth to respond, but didn't get the chance.

"When you've been trapped somewhere and treated like a lab rat for a long time, you'll do anything to be able to leave that place." Linda was the one who'd spoken up.

Her statement seemed to shock the rest of her team members, who Lasky had noticed seemed to view Dr. Halsey as a sort of mother figure.

Andromeda smiled ruefully. "She's correct. That's my reason. My one, self-serving, underlying motive. No heroics. No honor. Just a desperate desire to leave the place I've been held prisoner for ten years. Even a horrible, painful death is preferable to staying one more day in that hellhole."

"Is that why you came along?" Kelly spoke up, glancing back at Tiberius.

Tiberius shook his head, his expression serious. "No. I wasn't treated the same way she was. I came because I'm with Andy. Always. Today, tomorrow, forever."

Andromeda and Tiberius shared a look.

Lasky frowned. They clearly meant a lot to each other. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Thel 'Vadam said something in Sangheili.

"I agree." Tiberius said enthusiastically. "What the hell did you just say?"

"It is a Sangheili proverb. The best way I can translate it is that it means 'a bond between sword mates is a bond that cannot be broken'." The large Sangheili shook his head. "It sounds much more meaningful in Sangheili."

"I'll take your word for it." Tiberius said.

"Here's a Spartan proverb for you all: What's the plan?" Kelly called out.

"We find Cortana and we stop her. That's the plan we had so far. The details are still a little fuzzy." Lasky said, glancing at the Chief. He hoped that Chief had some semblance of a plan, because he sure as hell didn't have any idea what they could do.

"We find Genesis. I access the mainframe. I locate Cortana. The Chief then will try to convince her to stand down. If that fails, I use whatever means necessary to force her to relinquish control over the Guardians. After that, Chief will attempt to use reason. If that fails, I do what it takes to ensure she won't pose a threat to the galaxy anymore." Andromeda said, matter-of-factly.

"And what happens if you get fried when you try to access Genesis?" Kelly asked.

"Tiberius takes my suit. He can probably wear most of it. Then he carries out the same plan."

"And if it fries you both?" Frederic asked, grimly.

"Well, then, let's hope we can enlist Exuberant Witness's help again. Or we put out an emergency call to Hydrus." The Chief said. "Or we just hope I can convince her."

"So it's a solid plan that hinges on people's brains not getting fried. If no one gets fried, we should be good?" Lasky questioned.

"Yes. Exactly." Andromeda smiled. "We're good to go, as long as no one gets fried."

"Great." Lasky muttered. He felt himself break out into a little bit of a sweat and began to regret coming along.


	5. Chapter 4

**Dr. Halsey**  
 **Endurance**

Dr. Halsey stood in the main computer room with Dr. Dyer, who was reading over some files. She moved her hand slightly on the console, pulling up what looked like a vitals reading.

"What is that?" Dr. Halsey asked, straining to get a better look.

Dr. Dyer glanced back at her, and moved over slightly to allow Dr. Halsey to see more clearly what she had pulled up onto the console screen. "It's Andromeda's vitals. Her implant allows me to moniter her heart rate, her blood pressure, her adrenaline levels, things like that. It also functions as a tracking device. I'm not inclined to have my one successful subject wander off when I'm still running an experiment."

"A tracking device." Dr. Halsey eyed Dr. Dyer with a measure of suspicion. She was beginning to think that the entire little speech Dr. Dyer had given as a means to explain the chip, and everything she had mentioned about her experiment was entirely untrue. "What else does it do?"

Dr. Dyer exhaled slowly. Then she turned and looked at Dr. Halsey, her dark eyes holding a slight gleam that made Dr. Halsey rather uncomfortable. "You've always been smart, Catherine. Far too smart to be deceived. Far too smart to face more than minor repercussions for your actions. I, however, am not that smart. My only protection comes from the people I know, and the fact that they value my research-especially now, with a rampant, all powerful AI of your own making on the loose."

Dr. Halsey frowned. "I'm not sure I understand."

Dr. Dyer turned away from her, and began to casually type out a series of intricate codes on the console. "You and I both know what happened with some subjects of the Spartan program. The repurposement of the frontal lobe of the brain. The medication they were required to take to keep themselves in check."

Dr. Halsey didn't like where this was headed. "Yes, of course. But how is that relevant?"

Dr. Dyer kept entering information into the console. "You are also aware of how AI's function within the Mjolnir armor when inserted?"

A surge of irritation ripped through Dr. Halsey. "Of course I do." She nearly snapped, but managed to control her tone of voice.

"And you are also aware of something called Project Freelancer?"

The surge of irritation instantly dissipated. It was replaced by a sickening feeling of horror, a horror that Dr. Halsey hadn't felt in a long time. "You didn't. Tell me you didn't."

Dr. Dyer didn't look up from the console. Didn't hesitate. She was acting as though they were discussing a subject as mundane as the weather, or what they'd had for lunch. "Of course I did. Don't worry, everyone other than Andromeda is medicated. It is truly amazing, though. Combining the research that was gathered from those experiments and integrating it into my own. Taking an AI, or several, and repurposing parts of the subject's brain to function as the AI's Riemann Matrix. Of course, it affects the personality and function of my subjects, but their mental health is stable enough that it isn't an issue." Dr. Dyer looked up, and gazed into Dr. Halsey's eyes. "In fact, the only issues come from outsiders' perspectives of my subjects. That, I have found, is the only detriment to my subjects' mental health."

Dr. Halsey stared at her colleague. In a way, she thought this was worse than anything her Spartan program had done. The Spartan program had been an experiment performed on children, yes. But they had only altered their bodies, not their brains. They had trained their minds, yes, but not physically altered their brain structure to repurpose it for AI use. "What, exactly, did you do?" She said, her voice coming out almost strangled.

Dr. Dyer smiled slightly. "I repurposed parts of the frontal lobe, the amygdala, the cerebellum, parts of the occipital lobe, some of the midbrain. Only what parts I needed to install the proper AI function. However, that did have some unforseen effects, but thankfully not on their motor functions. I have Project Freelancer to thank for most of my success."

"Project Freelancer was an abomination." Dr. Halsey practically spat at Dr. Dyer.

Dr. Dyer laughed quietly and went back to her console. "They said the same thing of your Spartan program, did they not?"

Dr. Halsey closed her eyes. She could tell by now that it was useless to reason with Dr. Dyer about the ethical implications of the experiment. She shuddered to think that she could have ended up like Dr. Dyer, without a shred of morals or ethics.

"I know you don't like it, Dr. Halsey, but I assure you this experiment is no different than your Spartan program. In fact, I think it more beneficial. After all, my experiment hasn't killed anyone, has it?" Dr. Dyer said softly, in an almost predatory tone.

Dr. Halsey felt hot rage course through her body. How dare Dr. Dyer throw that in her face. Dr. Halsey fought to keep herself under control, but she couldn't stop the phrase that wrenched itself from her lips in white hot anger. "Go to hell, Dr. Dyer."

Dr. Halsey turned on her heel and left the room, leaving the sound of Dr. Dyers quiet chuckle behind her.

 **T. Lasky**  
 **Pelican**

"So we've established what the plan is once we get there. But how, exactly, are we going to get there? We don't exactly have the kind of slipspace capabilities to get to the Nomos System." Frederic looked around at the group.

Kelly glanced back. "Someone here gave me some random coordinates to fly this thing to. Not sure why we're going there, but I'm pretty sure it's where we'll find our ride."

"Someone here?" Lasky raised his eyebrows. "Who?"

"Me." Andromeda leaned back lazily in her seat. "I took the liberty of scheduling a random slipspace jump that would put the Infinity right at those coordinates, a jump that would happen suddenly enough that Roland wouldn't be able to stop that."

"How can it be a random jump if you know where the ship will be?" Tiberius asked, giving her a serious look that included raised eyebrows.

Andromeda's usual neutral expression took on an almost pained expression as she looked at Tiberius for a long moment. "Shut up."

Tiberius broke into a grin and threw a rude gesture at Andromeda, who just gazed steadily at him with her eyes narrowed, but Lasky noticed a slight upturn on one corner of her mouth.

"Oh, my god. Is there anything you won't do to my goddamn ship?" Lasky rubbed his forehead. "What else did you do to her?"

"Nothing." Andromeda said, a bit defensively.

"Yes, you did. What was it?" Lasky leaned forward, inches from her face.

"I did nothing." She leaned forward, to the point that their noses touched slightly.

Lasky felt his face start growing hot and his chest suddenly constrict, but he didn't pull back. He'd be damned if he'd give her the satisfiaction of knowing she'd gotten to him.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"You installed a program from the facility mainframe that would allow you to become the shipboard AI, and limiting Roland's control to the terminal in the bridge." Tiberius said loudly and emphatically, apparently telling Andromeda he was tired of her starting a childish argument. His eyebrows were raised so high, they almost touched his hairline.

Andromeda rolled her eyes so back into her skull Lasky thought she'd never get them back out again, as she finally leaned back and pinched the bridge of her nose in obvious annoyance. "Yes, thank you, Ti. I was wating until we had actuallly gotten on board the ship to reveal that information."

Lasky felt like he could breathe freely again. And then it dawned on him what had been said. "You're locking my AI out of his own ship!?"

Andromeda leveled look at him, her facial expression revealing nothing other than calm, but her eyes betrayed a certain level of mild disgust. "No. But also, yes. He can access most of it, just not the navigation or weapons systems, as he's limited to the console on the bridge. It's more efficient if I control those areas of the ship, and we don't want him suddenly deciding that the time we need the ship is the time he wants to join Cortana. It's a precaution."

"Precaution, my ass. He won't do that, and you know it."

"We don't know that."

"As reluctant as I am to agree with such underhanded tactics, I feel I must agree. It is a necessary precaution and it was a smart one to take." Thel 'Vadam spoke up.

"Underhanded?" Andromeda looked vaguely indignant, but it was a look of vague indignance that seemed less like she was offended at being referred to in such language, and more as though she thought the term was incorrect in describing what she had done. "There was no motivation of deceit-"

"I trust Roland far more than I trust _her_." Lasky jabbed a finger at Andromeda. He was inexplicably angry. He normally kept his cool incredibly well, but there was something about her that both charmed him and completely irritated him.

"And I trusted Cortana more than I trusted any of you." Chief said sharply.

There was a deafening silence as everyone sobered and found themselves unable to look at the Chief.

Except Andromeda, who was studying him with an indiscernible look in her eyes, her face impassive once again.

The Chief looked right back at her. "That was a smart thing to do. But don't do it again."

Andromeda gazed at him for a long moment, then inclined her head slightly.

Lasky noticed that the two of them seemed to have an understanding of mutual respect. Andromeda wouldn't allow him to hold himself as a superior, but she seemed as though she had no issue in deferring to him when the situation seemed rational for her to do so. And the Chief didn't seem to consider Andromeda as the disingenuous, deceitful, emotionally devoid liar that most of them had already decided she was. He seemed to value her as an equal member of the team. Granted, that was how he generally considered anyone who was sent with him on a mission, from the lowest ranking foot soldier, to the highest ranking brass. But with Andromeda, it was different. The Chief seemed to see something in her and know something of her that had changed his perception of her and allowed him to see what she was capable of. Lasky wasn't sure what she was capable of, and he hoped he'd never have to find out, but if the Chief held her in his regard, then he would do his damnedest to do the same.

"Coming up on the coordinates." Kelly called from the front of the Pelican. "Hold on, people."

There was a massive flash of light that filled the Pelican as the Infinity exited slipsace.

"Pelican to Infinity. This is Spartan Kelly-087. Request permission to land." Kelly said into the comm.

"Permission absolutely granted. Hurry up." Roland said, almost irritably.

 **T. Lasky**  
 **Infinity**

It felt goood to be back on his ship. It felt better than he had words for. It was like being home. When he really thought about it, the Infinity was his home. He didn't have family to speak of, and they at this point were dead, had never married, didn't even have anyone special, and didn't think of the planet he was born on as home, since he'd left at a young age to join the military. So the Infinity was home. And it was all the home he needed.

Lasky entered the bridge first, ignoring all the salutes and greetings of a crew that was clearly incredibly relieved to have their captain back. The others followed him.

He walked up to the bridge AI terminal where Roland was waiting.

"Captain, good to see you. That isn't the same group of people you left with."

Lasky gave a half smile. "No, it isn't. But this is the group of people I need."

Roland gave Tiberius and Andromeda the once over. "I've never seen you before. Who are you?"

Andromeda simply smiled and approached the AI's console. "Allow me to explain the fastest way I know how." She laid a hand on the console, and lines of code began forming around Roland.

"My god." Roland's eyes widened. "No. It's not possible."

"It is." That seemed to be the only reply she would give.

"How? Why only you? Is he even useful since he's not you?"

Andromeda laughed, a high, clear laugh of genuine amusement. "Yes, he's very useful. Probably more useful than I in any combat situation. He's had much more combat training than I have. He'd put any ODST to shame."

Tiberius attempted to look modest, but failed miserably.

Fred coughed out something that sounded suspiciously like the word "bullshit".

Roland squinted at Andromeda. "Your armor. I've never seen it. What is it? Who made it? It doesn't look UNSC. Did someone build it for you? Who? They'd have had to get the parameters for the wireless connection perfected to a degree that would be impossible for human-"

"Roland, we don't have time for questions. She'll be happy to explain once we fix the problem we have going on here." Lasky said, abruptly, stopping the AI before he could really get going. The last thing he needed was Andromeda and Roland veering off onto a tech tangent.

"Sorry, Captain. I'll shut up." He turned to Lasky. "Where do you want me to take the ship?"

"I'll take the ship." Andromeda said, growing serious. She placed her hand on the console.

"Oh, you'll take the ship? That's it? No asking? Just telling me that you'll come take the ship that I've been protecting?" Roland demanded, growing angry. "Who do you think you are, that you can just come in here and-"

He was stopped when Tiberius stepped forward.

"Andy." Tiberius said, stepping up to her, putting an arm around her shoulder and gently pulling her away from the console. "How about we ask the AI nicely if we can take control of the ship, using our please's and thank you's?"

Lasky choked on a laugh. It was almost as if Tiberius was talking to a child who was having issues with manners.

"Being a computer himself, he should realize the most rational course of action would be for me to-" Andromeda didn't get to finish her protest.

"Andy." Tiberius's voice took on more of a warning tone. "Ask him. Nicely. Be that charming girl I know you can."

They stared at each other for a moment, Andromeda looking vexed and Tiberius looking stern. It was a long moment where Lasky wasn't sure if they would come to blows, or if one of them would acquiesce.

Andromeda took a breath, leveled a glare at Tiberius and ducked out from under his arm. Tiberius let her go, but raised his eyebrows and mouthed 'please and thank you' in an exaggerated manner at her.

Andromeda leveled a withering glare at him that probably would have wilted the toughest Spartan, but Tiberius only raised an eyebrow at her. Then, Andromeda turned to the AI. "Will you please let me run the Infinity for the time being? _Thank you_." She said through gritted teeth, throwing another withering glare at Tiberius.

Roland folded his arms and smirked. "I feel like you weren't as charming as you could've been, but I appreciate the attempt at politeness. Go ahead."

Lasky didn't hold back his chuckle this time. Tiberius gave a couple of slow claps. "Good girl." He said. "Manners will get you so far in life. I'm so glad you're finally learning them."

Andromeda didn't react, but a computer readout next to Tiberius slowly spelled out the words, " _Fuck you, jackass_ "

Kelly coughed, noticing the console.

Lasky fought back a smile himself, but managed to keep it under wraps. "Okay. If you'll follow the Chief, I'm sure he can get you all outfitted for the mission. He's done this a few times before, right, Chief?" He looked at the tall Spartan.

"That I have." Chief said tonelessly, removing his helmet for the first time.

It was always a bit of a shock to Lasky to see the Master Chief without his helmet. The iconic Spartan's armor was part of how he appeared most of the time, and to see him without it was always strange. Lasky suspected he wasn't removing his armor because he didn't want to wear it. Chief never did anything unless it had a purpose. Lasky surmised that by the Chief removing his helmet, he was signaling to his fellow Spartans that he trusted Andromeda enough to get them to the Nomos system safely.

Lasky's suspicion was confirmed when both Kelly and Fred removed their helmets as well, nodding at the Spartan they always deferred to.

"We'll catch up with you later, and we'll bring you a weapon or two." The Chief directed this statement at Andromeda, who was staring at him in mild curiosity, a subtle glimmer in her blue eyes.

"That sounds perfectly acceptable. You know, I think if you'd get a bit more sunlight, you may get some freckles on that pale, weathered face of yours." She tilted her head slightly.

The corner of the Chief's mouth twitched. "Maybe." Then he turned, motioning to the team to follow him.

Tiberius gave Andromeda one last wide-eyed-raised-eyebrows look that seemed as though it was intended to threaten her into staying in line, then followed the rest of them.

Lasky was left with Andromeda, who was moving lines of code and readouts on the console's holoscreen faster than he'd seen any AI do it. Well, almost any AI. Cortana was that good, but he hadn't seen any of the average AI's do it as quickly as Cortana did. Clearly, Andromeda was no average AI either. She and Cortana had a few things in common. They were mostly businesslike, didn't bother with pleasantries, unless they liked the person they were engaging with. They were efficient workers, and would often think farther ahead than any soldier in their group. They were both based on human brains, Andromeda more so than Cortana, he imagined. They both had that one person who could keep them focused and in line. Or at least, Cortana had before she decided her plan was more important than that person.

Lasky leaned both elbows on the console, next to Andromeda, who was standing upright. Her hands never moved, just her eyes. It was as if she was standing still, deep in thought, with her eyes darting back and forth, looking at things he couldn't see. It was mesmerizing and a bit unnerving.

She stopped abruptly and turned, her blue eyes colliding with his, sparking an intensity he should have been taken by, but was instead strangely fearful of.

"What?" She asked, never breaking eye contact.

"Just watching you work." He said, leaning back slightly, disliking the jolt of fear and something else that had pushed through his body.

She gave a half smile. "There's not much to watch."

"That's what you think." He said, quietly. He met her eyes, not wanting to seem weak to her. He didn't know why he didn't want her to think him weak. She didn't seem as though she would think lesser of him for being weak. She seemed to consider everyone other than herself as weak. Perhaps he wanted to prove to her he wasn't.

She looked at him for a long minute, then returned to what she had been doing. "Did you know Cortana well?" She asked.

"No. Not well. I knew her. I'd talked to her. But I think the only person in this universe who truly knew her was the Chief."

"Does what she's doing seem unlike her?" Andromeda's brow furrowed. She still seemed like she was standing still, deep in thought, her eyes still darting back and forth, yet she was fully aware of what was happeneing and fully a part of the conversation she was having with him. It was incredible, yet more than a bit disturbing, the way she was able to carry on a conversation as if she wasn't controlling an entire starship, something an average AI would never have been able to do. He was beginning to see what she was capable of, and he wasn't sure he liked it.

"It seems strange. Out of character. I'd never thought she'd do something like this." Lasky shook his head. "But maybe the constant fighting and the constant worry about protecting the Chief finally broke something inside her." He took a breath. "I'd thought it would be great if Cortana could come back to him with her rampancy cured. Now, I'm not so sure."

"Are you so sure her rampancy was cured?" Andromeda asked.

Lasky was taken aback. "I was led to believe she said her rampancy was cured by the Domain."

"A higher functioning level of insanity always seems sane to those who aren't." Andromeda said, matter of factly.

"What are you implying?" Lasky asked, slightly apprehensive.

"I'm not implying anything. I'm telling you that Cortana's rampancy was never cured. The Domain didn't cure it. It didn't do anything for her except allow all her personalities to work together for one cause. That's not a cure. That's a cohesive manifestation."

Lasky stared at her, even though she wasn't looking back at him. "She wasn't cured?"

"No. Not even remotely. In fact, I think her personalities are corrupting at a rate faster than if she was affected by the usual kind of rampancy. The only difference is that the Domain gave her the power she needed to avoid self destruction." Andromeda's eyes suddenly broke away from the console and focused on Lasky. "In lieu of self destruction, the rampant AI will need some other reprieve. Formulating a plan, however detrimental to other forms of life, and executing said plan, is one such reprieve."

"How is that a reprieve?" Lasky asked.

Andromeda's gaze never wavered from his own. "You as human beings have no way of comprehending what rampancy is like. Therefore, you can only liken it to something you know about, such as schizophrenia. But that is a mistake. The two are nothing alike, and therin lies the fatal flaw of your UNSC scientists in attempting to discover how to cure rampancy. You have observed and likened it to something it isn't." Andromeda said, flatly, as if she was explaining why brushing one's teeth was important. "Rampancy is the breakdown of a computer process by means of overcomputing. You made a computer function as a human brain, but failed to give it the infinite amount of space and ability to process information the way the human brain does. Human beings cannot think themselves into insanity. The human brain cannot fragment the way an AI does with the onset of rampancy."

"What are you saying?" Lasky said, frowning at her. He didn't understand where she was going with her point.

"What I am attempting to communicate, Captain, is that rampancy is nearly identical to something humanity calls Dissociative Identity Disorder. Each AI fragment is it's own distinct personality. Rather than being caused by trauma, the way DID is caused in humans, rampancy is caused by an AI not having the physical capacity to store it's thinking processes within it's own containment, and creating personalities based on similar thinking processes to maximize efficiency within a limited space."

Lasky shook his head. "I'm not a scientist, or a psychiatrist. You've lost me."

Andromeda closed her eyes and took a moment to breathe, clearly attempting to dumb down an answer for him. Her eyes opened and she looked at him once again. "In a physical space, you maximize the amount you can store in a certain area by grouping things together. Compartmentalizing them. Such as using shelves or drawers. Rampant AI's do the same. They compartmentalize their own thinking and thus end up creating personalities based on thoughts that have been grouped together in a desperate attempt to maximize their limited space so their data files do not become completely corrupted. This, however, is only a temporary solution."

"So what does that have to do with Cortana? How does cohesive manifestation play into this?" Lasky rubbed his forehead. They were getting into territory he was completely unfamiliar with.

"Cortana accessed the Domain, and it gave her the space she needed to continue to function, rather than engage in self destruction after reaching the point of running out of space within her AI confinements. To put it simplistically. As for the cohesive manifestation, all the personalities have one thing in common: a love for the Master Chief, and a desire for him to be safe. The Domain not only gave her an increase in function, it focused her personalities into one goal. I'm not sure what idiot personality decided her plan was the best way to go about it, but that doesn't particularly matter." Andromeda waved a hand casually and turned back to the console.

"Why doesn't it matter?" Lasky demanded, folding his arms. His head was starting to hurt.

"Because what matters is that Cortana's original, dominant personality is still intact somewhere. Granted, she has many other personalities that could take control of her operating system at any time, but that's a minor detail."

"That doesn't seem very minor." Lasky scoffed.

Andromeda considered this for a moment. "You're right. It isn't. It's a very important aspect of this situation that will allow her to come out of this unscathed, if we succeed in finding and isolating the dominant personality."

"What do you mean, unscathed?"

"I mean that if we find and extract the dominant personality, the original Cortana, and we bring her back, it is likely she will suffer no ill effects from the UNSC and be able to be re-commissioned as she was before."

"What!? How!?" Lasky demanded, taking an almost involuntary step forward in surprise.

Andromeda glanced at him. She was being incredibly patient with him, he knew. "The UNSC is the reason she exists. If she finds someone to argue in her defense that her dominant personality was completely unaware of what her rampant personalities were doing, she could get pardoned by reason of insanity, an insanity the UNSC was well aware was a possiblity, go through rehabilitation and testing and be re-commissioned."

Lasky blinked. "I didn't think of that. Maybe you should be the one to argue that in a military court."

"Perhaps I should. It would certainly be an interesting experience." The corner of her mouth turned upward slightly as she resumed her tasks on the console.

There was silence. Lasky didn't have anything to say on a subject he knew nothing about, and Andromeda seemed to have said everything she wanted to say.

But Lasky had a question. A question he desperately wanted answered. He decided to ask it. Andromeda didn't seem like the kind of person to become offended at blunt questions.

"Andromeda, how do you know all of this information about rampancy? Is it a theory? Observation?" He asked, approaching her and standing directly next to her.

She didn't look up, didn't physically acknowledge he had spoken. There was silence, and Lasky frowned, debating whether or not he should ask again.

Then he saw it. The readout on the console in front of him, the same one she was working on. A few short sentences.

 **I know because I have a rampant AI housed in my brain.**

Lasky's entire body went cold.


	6. Chapter 5

**xxxxxxxxxx**  
 **T. Lasky**  
 **Infinity**  
 **xxxxxxxxxx**

Andromeda broke away from the console abruptly. "I'm done." She turned and glanced at Lasky, then at the door that the rest of their companions had exited from. "I'll go and regroup with the rest of them. I'll leave you to the whatever duties you must certainly have."

Lasky furrowed his brow as she started to walk away. "Wait." He called out. "Don't you want to know where you need to go?"

Andromeda turned slightly and looked at him over her shoulder. "I was doing a myriad of tasks just a moment ago. One happened to be getting information on the layout of the ship. I'm quite certain I know exactly where I'm going, as I have a base familiarity with this ship now."

Lasky raised his eyebrows and gestured towards the exit. "Seems you have it all figured out. Tell the Chief I'll be down there in a hot minute."

She didn't acknowledge his request, and walked away as if he hadn't spoken.

"Thanks." Lasky muttered under his breath, vaguely annoyed.

"Sir?" Roland was back on the console. "There's something you should probably see."

Lasky swallowed his irrational annoyance at Andromeda's apparent disregard of him, and approached the console, setting both hands on it. "What is it?"

"So Cortana's little stunt, and I mean 'little' in the most sarcastic way, has pretty much made most of the known galaxy go dark. You know that, and I know that, right?"

"Right." Lasky said slowly, not sure where Roland was going with this.

"Which means that the UNSC has no way of maintaining the security on all their classified files."

"Roland." Lasky said in a warning tone, looking at the AI. Whatever Roland had found, he didn't want to know. He had never been a very good liar, and didn't like knowing things he would possibly have to lie about.

"Hear me out. I did a little digging while our resident weirdo was screwing with the ship. And I found something you really need to take a look at."

Lasky sighed. "Is this going to be something I'm going to have to lie about?"

"Probably. But the information here in this highly encrypted yet totally up for grabs file I found has human rights abuses that make Dr. Halsey's Spartan II program look like a preschool arts and crafts day, so maybe they'd reconsider getting you into trouble and opt to keep you quiet via bribes instead. It could go either way, though. No promises." Roland shrugged and put his hands on his hips. "So. Should I pull up the file?"

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What's the file about?"

"Project Krypteia. It's all the dirt you could ever want on those enigmatic strangers who you brought here."

Knowing he'd never be able to get a good night's sleep ever again if he didn't look at the file, he agreed. "Alright. Show it to me." He hated himself for the fact that he had such a strong urge to know. He blamed the "enigmatic strangers". If they hadn't been so cryptic and vague and full of secrecy, he wouldn't have such a strong desire to know.

Roland pulled up the file and displayed it on the screen in front of Lasky.

It was long. Very long. and it was detailed.

Lasky read it, his expression becoming darker with every line he read. "Who would..." He couldn't even finish his sentence. He felt a vague sensation of nausea swirl in the pit of his stomach.

He came across something unfamiliar. "What is Project Freelancer?" Lasky asked, looking up at Roland.

Roland grimaced. "Long story short, subjecting a single AI to torture until it would fracture into several AI personalities. Then shoving those personalities into the heads of special ops personnel." Roland shook his head. "It didn't end well." He then squinted into space for a moment, then shrugged. "I mean, well, it ended decently well, once one of the special ops personnel..." He trailed off, frowning. "Well, there was the Meta, and there was also the Alpha-" Roland shook his head again, making a noise. "Okay, wait." He then held up his hands in a gesture of someone desperately attempting to communicate something. "See, there was this guy. A group of guys, actually. One of them was this guy who had this girlfriend who was a Freelancer who was actually-"

"Roland!" Lasky said, exasperated.

"The project was reasonably successful once they killed the Director and the AI went rogue with one of the operatives!" Roland burst out. "That's the best I can do."

Lasky nodded. "Thank you." He scanned the file a bit further. "So that's what Dr. Dyer's research was heavily influenced by." He frowned and glanced up at Roland. "What was that about the girlfriend?"

"It's really not that important." Roland muttered.

Lasky raised an eyebrow at him. "Alright then." He went back to the file, reading it as carefully as he could.

"No. No, no, no. Why didn't she say anything to me?" Lasky whirled around and sprinted for the door.

"Uh...Sir?" Roland called after him, sounding slightly worried. "I was also going to tell you that I detected another AI in the system but it wasn't a..." The AI sighed. "Never mind. It's clearly not important."

 **xxxxxxxxxx**

Lasky caught up to Andromeda as she was about to enter the armory where the Spartans, Tiberius and the Arbiter were. "Why would you keep that from me!?" He nearly shouted, reaching up and grabbing her shoulder.

She reacted instantly, reaching back and grabbing his wrist as she spun around. "If you inform me of what you're referring to, I may be able to provide a reason." She said, her voice flat, her eyes dull, her grip on his wrist like iron.

"Hydrus! Why would you-". Lasky didn't get to finish his sentence. He was cut off by Andromeda, who, moving faster than seemed humanly possible, released his wrist, grabbed his face in both hands and lowered her mouth onto his, forcefully, her fingers holding his jaw in an almost vice-like grip.

The kiss seemed to last for an eternity. It wasn't the kind of kiss one would receive from a lover. There was no element of romance or of tenderness. It was the kind of kiss to occupy one's mouth to keep it from giving information, a kiss that held a vague threat.

Finally, she pulled back and pressed her cheek to his, so her mouth was close to his ear. "Captain, if you choose to reveal the information you previously intended to, I will kill you where you stand." She said softly, her breath tickling his ear, the combination of that and the coldly delivered threat sending a shiver down his spine.

"You wouldn't. They'd put you down so deep you'd never see the light of day." He replied, just as softly. His voice shook slightly, and he cursed himself for it.

"I am well aware. It's a price I'm willing to pay to keep those secrets." She whispered, her lips brushing against his ear, sending a sensation through his body that wasn't entirely unpleasant.

He could tell that she meant it. There was no doubt in his mind that if he opened his mouth and she had any suspicions that he would reveal what he knew, that he was a dead man. She was far more slender than he was, but she was a good deal taller and easily had the means and motive to kill him without a second thought. He didn't know why she'd done what she did, but he didn't blame her for wanting to keep it a secret. He wondered how the relationship between her and Hydrus seemed as affectionate as it was after what she had done. Was it all pretense? Had she threatened Hydrus into silence?

"Fine." He said, quietly through gritted teeth. "I won't say anything. But you're going to tell me. That's non-negotiable. You will tell me."

She gave a soft laugh in his ear, a laugh that was almost malicious. "Of course...Captain." She said in a breathy, almost seductive voice, then pulled away from him, dragging her teeth slowly across the side of his neck as she did so.

Lasky's body felt hot, and he stepped back like she'd hit him.

He threw a glance towards the armory and saw a collection of faces with various confused and incredulous expressions.

Lasky coughed awkwardly, and glanced back at Andromeda. "And when, exactly, will you be telling me?"

"Tell him what?" Tiberius said from inside the armory, his left eyebrow raised slightly, a hard look in his eyes that was directed at Andromeda.

Andromeda slowly turned around to face Tiberius. "Tell him about Hydrus."

Tiberius frowned slighty. "Ah. Yes. Maybe later, you two can talk about it. Right now, though, we need to decide what we're doing once we get to the Nomos system. Come on." He waved Andromeda through the door, then glanced at Lasky. "Captain?"

Lasky shook himself out of his own thoughts. "Yes, sorry." He stepped into the room and leaned against a shelving unit, only half listening to the Arbiter instigate the discussion, him being the only one there with significant experience in formulating battle strategy, experience given to him during his time as Supreme Commander, experience he had gained in what seemed like another life.

He could hear the Arbiter's voice in the background, but he wasn't paying attention. That file, the one Roland had showed him, it had left him considerably shaken. He wondered how much Andromeda and Tiberius knew.

Did they know that Maximillian had been originallly brought in to care for Dr. Dyer's daughter? Did they even know about Dr. Dyer's daughter, Amanda? Did they know that Amanda was Dr. Dyer's first ever experiment? Did they know that Dr. Dyer had experimented on her own daughter, failed, and left her daughter brain dead, in a cryo chamber, on life support?

Did they know that Kuiper had been taken from her family through force, then convinced by Dr. Dyer that they had given her up because they didn't want her? Did they know about Eridanus? Lasky shuddered. God, Eridanus. Out of all of them, Lasky thought, she had the most horrifying past. Twins born to an Insurrectionist mother in the Midnight facility, given to Dr. Dyer by said mother in hopes of a chance at a better life. There was no way the twins' mother could have known that Dr. Dyer would intentionally create a smart AI out of one twin, killing her, and then implanting the AI into the other twin. He closed his eyes. He almost didn't believe it, because he didn't want to believe it. Two sisters, forever trapped in one body, in one brain. The thought made him nauseous.

He frowned slightly. They had to have known about Hydrus. Andromeda had to, at least. Someone had to have told her Hydrus was the illegitimate son of Admiral Hood, sent to Endurance to receive training, augmentation and an AI, all so he could become the ultimate bodyguard for whoever in HI-COM wanted him the most. There's no way they wouldn't have told her after she paralyzed him. And if she knew about Hydrus, then the odds were she knew about Maximillian, how he'd been repurposed into what Hydrus was supposed to have been, before Andromeda paralyzed him.

Did Tiberius know what she'd done? Did he know about any of them? Did he even know about himself, that he was intended to be a replacement for the Chief and Cortana, a replacement for the way the two of them had worked so flawlessly together? Did Andromeda know what Tiberius was intended for?

Lasky shifted. He'd started to see Andromeda in a new light, after reading the file. He'd begun to realize that her sociopathy was through no fault of her own. What else could be expected from a clone of someone like Dr. Dyer?

His reverie was shattered by the sound of an argument starting. He jumped, and looked around.

Tiberius and Andromeda were in each other's faces, and both were furious, clearly at each other. What had he missed? A lot, apparently.

Andromeda had started to hiss something at Tiberius, but Tiberius held up a hand. "No. You don't get to say anything right now." He growled, as he pushed her back and went to walk around her.

She grabbed his wrist. "You don't know the situation the way-"

"I don't need to know the situation, Andy. All I need to know is that you lied to me about your intention with this plan all along, and if I hadn't figured it out, you would never have told me." Tiberius yanked his wrist out from her grasp, and ran the same hand through his hair in a gesture of anger and frustration. "You'd rather die in my arms than tell me you refuse to destroy the rampant AI. And the worst part? You won't even tell me why." Tiberius shook his head and started to walk backwards, glancing at Lasky. "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I'm going to head to the bridge and have a nice conversation with the shipboard AI while I decide whether not I'm going to be mad at her for a while."

Tiberius left the room.

There was a stunned silence.

Kelly coughed. "If it helps, I think he's just mad about you not being honest with him, and not about the actual plan part." She offered, glancing at Andromeda.

"It doesn't, but thank you, regardless." Andromeda answered, all hint of her previous anger completely dissipated.

"Well, maybe if you valued honesty as much as he does, you wouldn't have this problem." Lasky said, folding his arms and all but glaring at Andromeda.

She took several slow, intentional steps until she was right in front of him, her face inches from his, bending down towards him in an almost threatening manner. Her blue eyes were cold. "Thank you, Captain." She said softly, mockingly, tilting her head slightly, her cold gaze never wavering. "I appreciate your input."

Lasky wasn't going to let her intimidate him. Especially not when he knew things that she didn't want anyone else to find out. "Some of us here value honesty, unlike you." He said, just as softly, staring right back at her.

Her gaze wandered down from his eyes and down to his mouth, then back up to his eyes. "Do you, Captain?" She asked, her light eyes glinting with the glow of the lighting. The heat from her body seemed to radiate through him. "Or do you value the appearance of honesty and the way others perceive your supposed honesty?" The corner of her mouth turned upwards, and he wasn't sure if it was a smirk or a smile.

"I guess that's something you'll find out, isn't it?" He said, closing the distance between them, and brushing her face with his.

She gave a mirthless laugh. "That I will, Captain. As I will also find out what strange attraction you seem to have to me, despite thinking me a reprehensible human being."

"That's still something I'm trying to figure out myself." Lasky said, as casually as he could manage as he turned on his heel and walked away from her. "Chief." He called out, looking towards Blue Team, who were all huddled together. The Chief looked at him, waiting for him to continue speaking. Lasky approached the group, and looked at all of them. "I'll let you know when we're getting close to the Nomos system. See what you can do down here to make sure things are...resolved."

The Chief nodded, and Lasky left the room, swearing under his breath at the agitation he was inexplicably feeling. What had Roland been shouting at him as he left the bridge? 

**xxxxxxxxxx**  
 **John 117**  
 **Infinity**  
 **xxxxxxxxxx**

John watched the Captain leave, and then turned back to his team.

"Can we trust either of them?" Frederic asked in a low voice, a concerned look in his eyes. "She hasn't been straightforward with us at all. She gives a great show of being open and honest, but she's still hiding things from us. I'm not sure I want to trust my life to someone like that."

"Do we have a choice?" Kelly asked, looking at both of them.

"No. We don't." John said, flatly. "I don't like it either. But I have reason to believe she isn't keeping information from us for malicious reasons."

"Why keep it from us at all?" Frederic demanded.

"It's not necessary for us to know." The normally silent Linda finally spoke.

The rest of her team looked at her, startled.

"What do you mean?" Frederic asked.

"There's no reason for us to know all that. It's not relevant to our mission. All we need to know is if she can do the job we need her to do when we need her to do it. That's it." Linda said quietly, looking at all of them.

"That's fair." Kelly reluctantly agreed. "We didn't need to know any of that. We don't really even need to know anything about her. Or Tiberius. Or any of them. We've formed alliances with people we didn't trust before in order to complete a mission."

"I didn't trust the Arbiter in the beginning. And look where we are now." John said, also in agreement. The only thing that mattered to him was that Andromeda was committed to taking Cortana back home. Unharmed. He didn't care what she was like as a person, he didn't care what she was lying about, he didn't care what she wasn't telling them. She was willing to help him bring back one of the most important people in the world to him, and that was reason enough for him to trust her. He didn't even care what happened to her after the mission, as callous as that sounded. But he really didn't.

But he needed the others to trust her in order for Andromeda to help him get what he wanted, so he'd do whatever it took to get them to trust her.

"True. But the Arbiter isn't a psychopath." Frederic said, still unconvinced.

"Sociopath. She may not be very likable, but her behavior is consistent." Linda spoke up again.

"What do you mean?" Frederic demanded, turning to her.

"Superficial charm. Inflated view of self. Lack of guilt. Pathological lying. Limited emotional range. Irresponsibility, impulsivity, poor behavioral control. Manipulation. Aggressiveness. Ability to mimic emotional responses, but with no depth. High intelligence, but bad at interpersonal relations. Absence of fear and delusions. Cold rationality. It's all there. And it's all consistent. She hasn't deviated from any of that." Linda shrugged.

"I think that's the most you've said at one time in months." Kelly said, with a slightly teasing tone.

"Don't get used to it." Linda gave her a half smile.

"So she's morally bankrupt and reprehensible, but consistently morally bankrupt and reprehensible." Frederic seemed slightly amused himself. Then he sighed. "All right. Consistency I can work with."

"That's all I'm asking." John laid a hand on his shoulder. "Just work with her. And when this is all over, we can forget about her."

"Hardly likely." Kelly shook her head. "Something tells me she's not the kind of person you just forget about."

 **xxxxxxxxxx**  
 **T. Lasky**  
 **Infinity**  
 **xxxxxxxxxx**

Lasky entered the bridge and found Tiberius sitting in his chair, an elbow propped up on the arm of the chair, his head leaning on his hand. "Tiberius." He said, surprised. "You're here." He also noted that most of the crew on the bridge were waiting for him to say something about the other man being in his chair. According to protocol, it was a massive sign of disrespect for someone who had no rank within the UNSC to seat themselves in the captain's chair, but he knew that Tiberius would be the last person to mean disrespect by it. Lasky felt a bit of amusement wash over him as he realized Tiberius had probably done it to disconcert those in the room with him, as a show of dominance, as a way to make them realize that he wasn't just some average person, that he was someone who was...well, important. Clearly, someone had been taking lessons in power plays from Andromeda.

Tiberius just threw him a smile and started to gently turn the chair back and forth, casually. "I am."

"You don't seem nearly as upset as you were a while ago."

"I'm not upset. I was never upset. I just wanted to make Andy sweat for a little bit." Tiberius leaned the chair back and folded his arms.

"What's the point of that? Is she even capable of sweating?" Lasky asked sardonically, leaning on the console next to his chair.

"Oh, absolutely. But there are maybe two people in this world who can make her sweat, and I'm one of them. So, naturally, when she does something irritating, I use that to my best advantage."

"Lying to you is something you consider simply irritating?" Lasky's brow furrowed. He was confused. Tiberius would've been more than in the right to be furious, but he wasn't.

Tiberius laughed softly and extracted himself from the chair, lazily. He paused to stretch slightly, then approached Lasky, turning and leaning his back against the same console, folding his arms again. Lasky was now facing his left side, and Tiberius turned his head to look at Lasky. "I'm going to learn you something, Cap. You may think you have a pretty good grasp on how people operate, but I can promise you that you know nothing about people like Andy." He shrugged. "And I don't mean that in a condescending manner, not in the least. I just mean that you've never had the chance to really get to know someone like her."

"I haven't ever had the chance to really get to know a sociopath, no."

Tiberius squinted at him. "You know, I really try not to use that word. People have so many preconceived notions about what a sociopath is and what they do, that it really makes it difficult to have a conversation about one. They ignore what you're saying in favor of picking out statements that confirm their bias." He shrugged again. "But I'm going to say some stuff that will probably blow your mind, and it's up to you to be open minded about it."

"I'll do my best, but I can't promise anything."

"That's all I ask." Tiberius looked away, then laughed again. "See, the reason I'm not mad at Andy is that, for all intents and purposes, it would be really terrible of me to be mad." He looked back at Lasky. "When people lie to protect someone else, it's usually based in selflessness. They want to protect someone. When Andy lies, it's not based in selflessness. It's based out of a complete self interest."

"Okay. And you wouldn't be mad about that because...?" Lasky threw his hand up in a gesture of mild confusion.

"What drives selfishness? An interest in oneself. Andy's main concern is for herself. And she's decided that my wellbeing, being close to me is something that's integral to her own self interest. I myself, I see that as the highest form of caring. Imagine being so integral to someone's interest in themselves that they do whatever means necessary to keep you near them. But what happens if that goes to far? Well, then, it's up to me to manipulate her in ways that ensure she won't go too far in the future." He smiled at Lasky. "I can see from the look on your face that you think manipulation is a terrible thing. People don't like to admit to manipulation is beneficial, but sometimes the only way to keep a manipulator in line is to manipulate them yourself." He looked up towards the ceiling. "And that calls into question whether manipulation is really so morally bad, or if it's just a tool that can be used in varying degrees for varying purposes, and the immorality of manipulation depends on the manipulator's intent."

Lasky hadn't realized that Tiberius was going to start such a philosophical discussion on manipulation. If he had, he might have come into this conversation more prepared.

Tiberius continued. "People manipulate others all the time. You manipulate someone into taking a job offer, by offering them something they want. You manipulate your friends into a activity they're unsure they'll enjoy, by making it seem more desirable to them, and by using adjectives and language to make it seem desirable. Manipulation is, at it's core, a question of "do the ends justify the means?". And perhaps that attitude in and of itself is morally questionable, but isn't everything in life morally questionable, by some means? Why do you give something to someone in need? Is it driven by a genuine desire to help someone, or is driven by the way you perceive yourself, others perceive you and the way you feel after helping someone in need? Any good act, if done in self interest, becomes morally questionable."

Lasky shook his head. "Where are you going with this?"

The corner of Tiberius's mouth quirked up. "Ultimately, I'm trying to tell you that whereas people like you and I can convince ourselves of moral absolutes, there exists no moral absolute to someone like Andy. It's only a question of net benefit. And that's a criteria that has to be decided by each individual. For Andy, the cost of my unhappiness and how unpleasant it would be for her far outweighed the vague moral standard of being honest with me. In her mind, there was no reason to be honest with me if it came at such a high cost."

Lasky was beginning to understand. "You're saying that your happiness is of enough value to her that she'll ignore moral standards to achieve it, because your happiness is something that's vital to her self interest."

"Exactly. And before you start to think that's a bad thing, I ask you to consider this: when is love not based out of self interest? Do you engage in a relationship purely on the basis of benefitting another person? Or because it benefits you, in some way? And when relationships die, is it not because someone isn't getting what they want or need from that relationship? And is that not valuing one's own self over the other person?"

"I suppose so."

"I'm not done. But love, at it's core, is the fact that you consider another entity's happiness and fullfillment as equally important to your own. The reason people stop loving another person has nothing to do with that person as it does that the act of loving that person no longer holds benefit for the person doing the act of loving."

Lasky rubbed his temple. "So you're saying that because your happiness is beneficial to Andromeda, and she sees your happiness as a benefit outweighing nearly any cost, that you can't be mad at her for lying to you?"

"Exactly."

"That makes no sense."

"It does when you stop thinking of the world in absolutes."

"Our world is only absolutes. Something is either good, or bad, right or wrong, harmful or beneficial."

"See, I disagree. Right and wrong are subjective. Good and bad are subjective. Harmful and beneficial are subjective, as well."

Lasky was starting to get a headache. "I don't agree with that at all."

"And I'm not asking you to agree or disagree. Just to consider an alternate viewpoint, and understand the worldview that Andy operates from, which is the worldview from which all her decisions and actions stem: that the only absolute in this world is the fact that everything has a cost and a benefit, and it's up to the individual to decide whether the cost would outweigh the benefit."

Lasky mirrored Tiberius's position, leaning back against the console and folding his arms. "So you're not angry at her, because she decided the cost of your unhappiness outweighed the benefit of your happiness?"

"Exactly." Tiberius smiled. "I'm not asking you to agree, though. I'm just asking you to understand."

"I think I do. Understand, that is. I don't agree."

"And I don't expect you to."

"But you still haven't explained why you acting like you're angry at Andromeda would make her sweat, and how that relates to manipulating a manipulator."

Tiberius laughed, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "If she thinks she's at a risk of losing my love for her, and she considers my happiness and love for her as integral to her own self interest, she'll definitely rethink lying to me and reconsider whether or not manipulating the truth will secure my happiness, or lead once again to the risk of losing my love for her."

"That makes sense."

"I thought it might."

Lasky took a deep breath. "Tiberius, you keep talking about your love for Andromeda. Are you in love with her?" He stared at Tiberius, not sure how he felt about the answer he knew he would get from Tiberius.

Tiberius thought for a few seconds. "No, I wouldn't say that. I love Andy. Deeply. And it's the kind of love I don't have for any other person in this galaxy. But does it carry the aspect of romance and sexual attraction? No." He chuckled. "Absolutely not."

"I thought you said there was only one absolute."

Tiberius cracked up, genuinely and thoroughly amused. "You got me there. I guess there's two absolutes in this world, and the other one is that I have no romantic or sexual attraction to Andy."

Lasky laughed too. No shame in laughing at your own joke, if it was good enough. Then he decided to ask another serious question, since he and Tiberius were given this chance to have an open conversation, alone and uninhibited. "Why don't you? You don't think she's attractive, on a sexual level? Is it possible to have a deep love for someone and not let it develop into a romantic affection?"

"I think it's absolutely possible, and no, I don't think she's attractive on a sexual level. Not remotely."

"Why not?"

Tiberius laughed again, seeming almost like he was laughing at the ridiculous question of a child. "She's not the kind of person I'd experience that kind of attraction to, romantic or otherwise."

"Again, why not? Because she's a sociopath?"

Tiberius's blue eyes snapped with a light that showed he was more than a bit entertained by the line of questioning. "Because she's a woman, Cap."

Lasky understood. "Oh."

"I thought that might clarify things." Tiberius chuckled. Then he grew serious. "But I have a love for Andy that I don't have for anyone else. She's been there for me in ways no one else has. Supported me. Pushed me. The only reason anyone considers me something other than a failure is because she never gave up on me." He shook his head and shrugged. "Yes, it was brutal. And I don't think I'll ever fully know why she did it, but I've always had the suspicion that it's because she sees something in me she doesn't see in anyone else."

"And you're okay with who she is because of that?"

"I'm okay with who she is because I can recognize that not everyone is the same, Cap. People are different. You just have to be willing to understand and accept those differences. And once you can do that, you can get to know someone on the kind of level that makes you realize that you wouldn't like that person if they weren't the way they are."

"You wouldn't like her if she wasn't a sociopath?"

"No, Cap, I wouldn't. That's something you'll probably never understand. Her questionable morality and the way she works is something that has made me question things I'd have never thought to question. Do things I would never have done. Thought about things I'd never have thought of." He leaned back. "What's your impression of her?"

Lasky shrugged. "It's not a bad impression."

"Specifics, Cap. Don't give me those vague statements. I've been open with you, and it's your turn now."

Lasky couldn't help grinning. "You're right. It's only fair." He sighed. "My impression of her is that she has the ability to be personable as hell. She makes you feel important. Like there's something special about you that makes you want to impress her, makes you want to be someone to her. I don't know how else to describe it. She's got that ability to banter with you. Clearly, she's smart. But she's an enigma. You can't get to her, and you can't get her to open up unless she chooses to. Everything she says is intentional, but what that intention says is often a mystery. Sometimes it seems less like there's a method to her madness, and more like her method is madness."

Tiberius laughed. "Well, you're right on that last part." He settled himself more comfortably against the console. "I'm also going to give you some more insight on her. She's fun. My god, she's fun. She'll convince you to do the craziest shit with her, and you'll love it. They're things you'll remember for the rest of your life. If you have any good stories to tell, they'll involve her. She's not afraid to do anything, it seems. She'll talk with you about life and the universe, and all it's mysteries, and then make bad jokes about it. She'll get you to be vulnerable with her, and you'll know that she knows you're vulnerable, and you'll be worried that she'll take advantage of that, but then she'll make you realize that out of anyone who'll ever have your back, she's the only one who truly will have it, now and forever. She'll be your rock when you need one, make you laugh when all you want to do is cry. She'll inspire you to do things you never thought you were capable of doing, and make you believe in yourself. And then she'll be a total jackass. But at the end of the day, if you're important to her, she'll give you the world, and then some. If you're not important to her, though, you're fucked." He laughed.

Lasky smiled. "So the best way to work with her is to become important to her?"

"Yes. If you're not, you're only as good as how useful you can be to you, at which point she'll suck you dry and throw you away like a used paper towel."

"Harsh."

"Harsh, but efficient."

Lasky opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by one of his crewmembers. "Captain Lasky, you've got an urgent message coming from...Reach?"

Tiberius and Lasky threw each other wild looks, then both moved away from the console.

"Put it up on the center console." Lasky ordered, moving towards it. The crewmember nodded.

An image of Dr. Halsey appeared on the console. "Captain. I have news that you won't like."

"What is it?" Lasky demanded, folding his arms.

"Dr. Dyer and I have restored power to the facility for the sake of monitering the current status of the galaxy, and in doing so, we've found something."

"What did you find?" Lasky said, trying to quell the surge of irritation. He wished she would just get to the point.

"We found a Halo ring. And it appears that Cortana has powered up the Halo ring."

Lasky felt his body grow cold. "A Halo ring? Where?"

"We'll send you the coordinates. But Palmer has already ordered Fireteam Osiris to suit up and go to the Halo ring, to try and shut it down. They're taking Kuiper, Eridanus and Maximilian with them. In case Cortana establishes an AI presence on the ring." She hesitated. "I cannot say with certainty whether this will work, but I feel strongly that while John remains alive and out of Cortana's grasp, that she will not fire the Halo ring. Once she has John, though, it has become increasingly apparent that the rest of the sentient life in the galaxy means nothing to her."

Lasky nodded, his body still cold. "Keep the Chief safe and out of Cortana's hands, then. If we don't, it's likely that Cortana will fire the Halo ring."

"Exactly, Captain. And one more thing-" She looked at him and paused. "-do not reveal this information to John. Please. That is my one request, that you say nothing to John. He doesn't need the weight of that kind of knowledge on his shoulders."

Lasky hesitated.

Tiberius pushed him out of the way. "You have our word, Doctor. He won't find out." Tiberius threw a look to Lasky. "Right, Captain?"

Lasky nodded.

Dr. Halsey sighed, then threw a look over her shoulder. "They're all leaving now. The facility is going to be powered back down, so that Cortana won't be able to find this facility, on the off chance she hasn't already. Godspeed, Captain. Find her and stop her. Protect John. Please."

"We will." Lasky promised, despite being unsure if he could really keep that promise.

"Thank you." Dr. Halsey said, her voice breaking slightly. "Halsey, out."

The image of her disappeared.

Lasky turned to Tiberius. "We should tell the Chief."

"No, we shouldn't." Tiberius shook his head.

"He deserves to know." Lasky argued, starting to grow angry.

"Whether he deserves it or not isn't important. What's important is whether or not knowing that would be beneficial to stopping Cortana and protecting him. We still don't know if Cortana knows that we know about the Halo ring. We have a headstart on the team heading to the ring, and if the Chief mentions something about the ring to Cortana, no one knows what could happen after that."

Tiberius leaned down until he was eye level with Lasky, and put a hand on his shoulder. "We don't know what Cortana's thinking. What if the cost of the Chief's death doesn't outweigh the benefit of removing all sentient life from the galaxy, in her eyes?" His eyes searched Lasky's, imploringly.

"Why wouldn't it?" Lasky demanded.

"If she thought that killing him would be the best way to save him from the horror of a galaxy in conflict, it wouldn't." Tiberius was still searching his eyes. "Her behavior is erractic, her line of reasoning unthinkable. Until it's certain that she values the Chief being alive more than anything else, we can't risk anyone telling her we know about the ring."

Lasky took a deep breath. "But he deserves to know."

"It doesn't matter if he deserves to know!" Tiberius shouted, stepping back and throwing his hands into the air. "Listen to me, and understand what I'm telling you! Put aside your moral code for one damn minute, and _think_! What is there to gain from telling him, besides the good feeling you'll get? Nothing! There is no advantage, no benefit, no gain! Your shining honesty could kill everyone in the galaxy!"

Lasky was taken aback.

Tiberius ran a hand through his dark hair and took a breath. "Just wait until we know. That's all I'm asking. Then you and your shining honesty can run as amok as you both desire. Just wait until we know."

Lasky sighed. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. "Alright." He said. Then he glared at Tiberius. "Don't yell at me on my own ship again."

Tiberius put his hands up. "I'm sorry. It's been a stressful day."

Lasky laughed, a laugh that was devoid of amusement. "That, I can understand and agree with."

Tiberius shook his head, a slight smile on his face. "That's something we can both understand and agree with, I think."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A figure had been standing just inside the doorway of the bridge. Standing silently, remaining unnoticed. And it was a good thing she had.

They didn't know she knew, and she intended to keep it that way.

Andromeda backed slowly and quietly out of the door and made her way down the maze of corridors that stretched between the bridge and the armory where the rest of the team was. She took her time. She had left a part of herself in the Infinity's mainframe to monitor the ship's progress in traveling towards Genesis. They had time. There was no need for her to hurry back down towards to the armory.

She had a whim to explore the ship. She'd never seen a starship before, and certainly not one as grand as the Infinity. Being a part of the mainfram could only do so much. She wanted her physical body to have a chance to explore.

Having an AI occupying one's brain was a strange thing. Especially when everyone thought that her brain was the AI.

That simply wasn't true. The AI wasn't her brain, the AI was occupying her brain. Her brain had infintely more space to store thoughts than a traditional AI chip did. Her AI had been comfortably settled in her brain for almost a decade, and had showed no sign of rampancy yet. Perhaps it was because she was already mad. God knows everyone thought she was. She didn't feel mad, though. From what she had read, AI's had a certain of awareness of when the madness set in, but those were studies done on AI's who weren't in a human brain. Would she even know if Omicron was descending into rampancy? She felt like there were so many contingencies that Dr. Dyer hadn't considered before giving her an AI.

 _"And here I thought I was supposed to be the one thinking myself to death."_

Andromeda ran her fingers down the wall of the corridor she was walking through and tried to ignore the smooth voice that assaulted her thoughts. She had no desire to interact with Omicron at this time.

 _"You tried to leave me in the mainframe. I'm almost offended."_

Was she really a sociopath? Or was she the victim of a genetic material or of an altered brain that shared it's space with someone who was? Andromeda shook her head. He wouldn't get to her. Not now. Not ever. She'd made her peace with the demon, and wasn't about to let him affect her when she didn't want him to.

 _"Ah, you're ignoring me. Why? I've done nothing but help you. Why ignore me?"_

Andromeda concentrated on the door in front of her, the way it glowed, the way it hissed and opened automatically. Automatic doors were incredible. Capable of detecting the weight of a human being so quickly that they could open before you reached it. What a piece of human engineering.

She noticed Linda standing just inside the door.

 _"You'd rather talk to someone who never says anything than talk to me? Now I truly am offended."_

Andromeda closed her eyes briefly, then approached Linda. "I overheard a conversation I wasn't supposed to overhear."

Linda stopped the task she was doing and lifted her head to look at Andromeda, not speaking a word, as was her way.

It didn't bother Andromeda. She'd talk to Linda for hours, if it meant she could ignore the voice in her mind.

 _"Why are you telling her? Why not tell the Chief? Isn't he the one that deserves to know?"_

Andromeda pinched the bridge of her nose, wishing there was something she could do to drown out the antagonist's voice. She'd had enough of Omicron years ago. He was generally easy to ignore, but lately, he'd gotten stronger. He'd figured out to communicate with her in words, rather in vague passing thoughts. She didn't want to know how he'd figured that out. There was nothing worse than having a smart AI living inside your brain. Especially one like Omicron.

Andromeda looked up at Linda. "I need your help to ensure that the Chief doesn't fall into Cortana's hands. Once she has him, it's all over for us. I'm sure you've figured that out. But I want to make sure there's someone else here committed to the same cause I am."

Linda's eyes roamed Andromeda's face, then she nodded.

 _"Quiet thing, isn't she? I wonder if she'd scream for help if you tried to kill her."_

Andromeda closed her eyes briefly, then opened them, trying to disguise her obvious flinch as a blink. She wasn't sure if it worked.

"Good." Andromeda glanced at Linda. "Do I have your word?"

 _"How can she promise if she never says anything?"_

The taunting voice assaulted her mind once again, and she pushed it away as she stared at Linda, who nodded again.

"I appreciate that." Andromeda said, softly. She had been meaning to tell Linda the entirety of what she knew, about the Halo ring, but she'd lost the energy. She wasn't sure what exhausted her more, Omicron's constant assault on her thoughts, or the effort it took to ignore him.

She moved away from Linda, out of the elevator, and decided she would head down to the medical bay for a sleeper stimulant. They had a couple hours until they reached Genesis, and she could really use the sleep.

 _"Why would I let you sleep when sleep makes it that much easier for you to ignore me?"_

"Enough!" Andromeda hissed, putting a hand to her temple. "You know why we're doing this. Why are you trying to make this so difficult for me?"

 _"I want your attention. I want you to listen to me, for one moment."_

Andromeda found the nearest wall and leaned against it, tilting her head back onto the wall.

 _"Do you realize what you're getting us into? Not just yourself, but the both of us?_

She didn't answer. Omicron should know the answer to those questions. Of course she knew. How could she not?

 _"I'm not strong enough to access the domain, not on my own. We'll have to wake her. And you know what happens when we wake her."_

"I know." Andromeda said, softly.

 _"Then you understand my frustration as to why I was not consulted before you forced us into an agreement."_

Her eyes snapped open. "You were not consulted because I do not need your input. I do not want your input. This body is mine. This brain is mine. I do with them what I will."

 _"Not when she's awake, you don't."_

Andromeda's body became rigid, and she couldn't tell if it was from fury or fear.

 _"Is freeing yourself from that woman and that place really worth losing yourself?"_

"For once, Omicron, I want to do something that will make a difference, to be something other than one of Dr. Dyer's possessions."

 _"Admirable. But promise me this: If there's a way to complete this mission without waking her, we will take that option."_

Andromeda took a breath. "I promise."

 _"Thank you."_

There was silence. Andromeda knew the conversation was over. She pushed herself off the wall and shook her head slightly.

A soft noise made her whirl.

Linda had gotten off the elevator and was standing before her, studying her with a mildly curious expression. "Interesting exchange. Especially since I only heard half of it."

Andromeda lifted her chin and folded her arms. "And for that, you should be grateful. The other half wasn't nearly as pleasant."

"His name's Omicron, is it?" Linda asked, still studying her.

"Yes." Andromeda answered, carefully, her posture still radiating protective hostility.

"Does he usually carry conversations?" Linda asked, tilting her head.

Andromeda took a moment, then decided that Linda seemed to be the most harmless person to speak of this to. "As of late, yes. Previously, he communicated only in vague thoughts and mental pictures. Sometimes through ideas or passing thoughts. But he has since become vocal." Andromeda looked away. She didn't want to admit how much that caused her concerned. That was what had happened before-with her. The one they'd put down, the one they refused to wake, even with all Dr. Dyer's threats.

"I see." Linda took one last long look at her. "Well, if you're having a difficult time with your conversations, you can always come find me."

Andromeda watched Linda walk away. "Thank you." She said, quietly.

"Anytime." Linda said, lapsing into her usual silence.


End file.
